Effect of Virtual Reality and Audio Distraction on Pain during Painful Procedures among Children Admitted in a Tertiary Care Hospital
Abstract
Introduction: Children face a variety of crises throughout their lives,
often experiencing illness and hospitalisation in their early years. The
procedural pain is worse than the illness. The ability to regulate pain
through distraction seems to hold a lot of promise. The children can turn
their attention away from their suffering with the aid of distraction. The
main aim of the present study was to evaluate how children responded
to pain during IV cannulations in the virtual reality group and the audio
distraction group and compare them with the control group.
Material and Methods: A randomised controlled trial design was used
in this study conducted on 75 children aged 8–12 years. By means
of random assignment, the children were allotted to three groups
(25 children in every group), namely the virtual reality group, audio
distraction group, and control group. The Wong–Baker FACES Pain
Rating Scale was used to measure the intensity of pain.
Results: The study findings showed a significant difference between
the pain levels of the participants of the virtual reality group and the
controls (p < 0.001), and also between the participants of the audio
distraction group and the controls (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The study findings imply that using audio and virtual reality
distractions during intravenous cannulation can help children feel more
at ease and experience less pain.
How to cite this article:
Venkatesaperumal D, Sumathy P. Effect of Virtual
Reality and Audio Distraction on Pain during
Painful Procedures among Children Admitted in
a Tertiary Care Hospital. Chettinad Health City
Med J. 2023;12(4):117-120.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2278.2044.202382
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