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.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042539PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-021071DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

therapeutic play
20
control group
16
undergoing cast-removal
12
children undergoing
8
cast-removal procedures
8
randomised controlled
8
negative emotional
8
emotional manifestations
8
parents cast
8
cast technicians
8

Similar Publications

Purpose: To examine associations between clinical measures (self-reported and clinician-administered) and subsequent injury rates in the year after concussion return to play (RTP) among adolescent athletes.

Methods: We performed a prospective, longitudinal study of adolescents ages 13-18 years. Each participant was initially assessed within 21 days of concussion and again within 5 days of receiving RTP clearance from their physician.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Yu-Ping-Feng-San (YPF) is a famous classical Chinese medicine formula known for its ability to boost immunity. YPF has been applied to enhance the immune status of tumor patients in clinical practice. However, there is still a lack of research on its immune regulatory effects and mechanisms in the tumor microenvironment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ability of short-chain fatty acids to reduce inflammation and attract leucocytes to the inflamed skin of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.).

Sci Rep

December 2024

Immunobiology for Aquaculture Group, Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Campus of International Excellence, Campus Mare Nostrum, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.

The aim of the study was to investigate the potential preventive use of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) to modulate inflammatory responses in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) skin. Initially, in vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of various concentrations of butyric acid, acetic acid and propionic acid, as well as their combination, on the cytotoxicity and cell viability of three different cell lines. The results determined the safe concentration of SCFAs, which was then used for an in vivo study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ferroptosis is linked to various pathological conditions; however, the specific targets and mechanisms through which traditional Chinese medicine influences ischemic stroke (IS)-induced ferroptosis remain poorly understood. In this study, data from the Gene Expression Omnibus and disease target databases (OMIM, GeneCards, DisGeNet, TTD, and DrugBank) were integrated with ferroptosis-related gene datasets. To identify key molecular targets of Chuanxiong Rhizoma (CX), drug ingredient databases, including PubChem and TCMBank, were employed to map CX-related targets (CX-DEGs-FRG and CX-IS-FRG).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a major pro-inflammatory cytokine that demonstrates a robust correlation with age and body mass index (BMI) as part of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. IL-6 cytokines also play a crucial role in metabolic homeostasis and regenerative processes primarily via the canonical STAT3 pathway. Thus, selective modulation of IL-6 signaling may offer a unique opportunity for therapeutic interventions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!