Effectiveness of the Distraction Technique on Pain & Behavioral Distress During Invasive Pediatric Procedure Among School Age Children

The study evaluated the effectiveness of "distraction technique" on perceived pain and behavioral distress during invasive paediatric procedure. The Conceptual Framework adopted for the study was based on the "systems model". An experimental approach with only post-test-control group design was adopted. Sixty children aged 6–12 years were selected using Simple random-sampling technique, thirty children in each the experimental and the control group.

The experimental group subjects were distracted during the invasive paediatric procedure using kaleidoscope. The data obtained was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics

Findings related to past history of illness, hospitalization and pain experience showed that majority of children had past history of illness, more number of children suffered from medical illness; and most of the children were having negative attitude towards hospitalization. The Needle was the cause of fear for majority of children. The findings of the study revealed that distraction technique has been significantly effective in reducing the pain and behavioral distress irrespective of difference in age, sex, and birth-order, education, past history of illness, hospitalization and fear of pain.