The effects of preoperative therapeutic play on anxiety and fear levels in preschool children.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the effects of preoperative therapeutic play on fear and anxiety levels in preschool children.

Design And Methods: The study had an experimental pre-intervention-post-intervention design with a control group. The study was carried out with 37 children aged 3-6 years who were brought for surgical procedures at XX Research and Training Hospital between July 2020 and January 2021. While a therapeutic play intervention was performed with the children in the experimental group (n = 20), routine preoperative practices were performed in the control group (n = 17). Data were analyzed using chi-squared tests, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the Wilcoxon test. p < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The fear and anxiety levels of the children in the experimental and control groups were similar pre-intervention (p > 0.05). In the post-intervention, the mean anxiety and fear scores of the experimental group were 2.15 ± 1.63 and 1.15 ± 0.58, their mean ranks were 10.80 and 12.65, while the mean anxiety and fear scores of the control group were 7.94 ± 2.07 and 2.53 ± 1.00, their mean ranks were 28.65 and 26.47, respectively, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (respectively, MU = 6.00 p = 0.000, MU = 43.00 p = 0.000).

Conclusion: It was determined that the therapeutic play method applied before surgery reduced the anxiety and fear levels of children. Considering this situation, improving the skills of nurses in therapeutic play and increasing the number of personnel certified for interactive therapeutic games can reduce the risk of preoperative emotional trauma in children.

Practice Implications: The therapeutic play method applied before surgery reduced the anxiety and fear levels of children. The routine use of therapeutic play in pediatric surgery clinics is recommended.