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ABSTRACT: Objectives
To examine (1) the effectiveness of therapeutic play in reducing anxiety and negative emotional manifestations among children undergoing cast-removal procedures and (2) the satisfaction of parents and cast technicians with cast-removal procedures.Design
A randomised controlled trial.Setting
An orthopaedic outpatient department of a regional teaching hospital in Hong Kong.Participants
Children (n=208) aged 3-12 undergoing cast-removal procedure were invited to participate.Interventions
Eligible children were randomly allocated to either the intervention (n=103) or control group (n=105) and stratified by the two age groups (3-7 and 8-12 years). The intervention group received therapeutic play intervention, whereas the control group received standard care only. Participants were assessed on three occasions: before, during and after completion of the cast-removal procedure.Outcome measures
Children's anxiety level, emotional manifestation and heart rate. The satisfaction ratings of parents and cast technicians with respect to therapeutic play intervention were also examined.Results
Findings suggested that therapeutic play assists children aged 3-7 to reduce anxiety levels with mean differences between the intervention and control group was -20.1 (95% CI -35.3 to -4.9; p=0.01). Overall, children (aged 3-7 and 8-12) in the intervention groups exhibited fewer negative emotional manifestations than the control group with a mean score difference -2.2 (95% CI -3.1 to -1.4; p<0.001). Parents and technicians in the intervention group also reported a higher level of satisfaction with the procedures than the control group with a mean score difference of 4.0 (95% CI -5.6 to 2.3; p<0.001) and 2.6 (95% CI 3.7 to 1.6; p<0.001), respectively.Conclusion
Therapeutic play effectively reduces anxiety and negative emotional manifestations among children undergoing cast-removal procedures. The findings highlight the importance of integrating therapeutic play into standard care, in particular for children in younger age.Trial registration number
ChiCTR-IOR-15006822; Pre-results.
SUBMITTER: Wong CL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6042539 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Wong Cho Lee CL Ip Wan Yim WY Kwok Blondi Ming Chau BMC Choi Kai Chow KC Ng Bobby King Wah BKW Chan Carmen Wing Han CWH
BMJ open 20180705 7
<h4>Objectives</h4>To examine (1) the effectiveness of therapeutic play in reducing anxiety and negative emotional manifestations among children undergoing cast-removal procedures and (2) the satisfaction of parents and cast technicians with cast-removal procedures.<h4>Design</h4>A randomised controlled trial.<h4>Setting</h4>An orthopaedic outpatient department of a regional teaching hospital in Hong Kong.<h4>Participants</h4>Children (n=208) aged 3-12 undergoing cast-removal procedure were invi ...[more]