Clowning in children undergoing potentially anxiety-provoking procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The operation areas of clowns in the medical context are multifaceted. Clowning in children undergoing surgery has been shown to be able to lessen children's anxiety. Hence, our aim was to assess the effectiveness of clowning on anxiety in children undergoing potentially anxiety-provoking procedures.

Methods

We searched MEDLINE, CENTRAL, and EMBASE for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in December 2018. The primary outcome was children's anxiety. We used the Cochrane risk of bias tool to assess risk of bias of the included studies.

Results

We found eleven RCTs including 733 children. Their risk of bias was relatively high. Children undergoing clowning were significantly less anxious in preoperative time compared to parental presence or no intervention (me

SUBMITTER: Konsgen N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6642518 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature