Children's fear, pain, and anxiety before and after enema: A descriptive, cross-sectional study.

Aims And Objectives: The study aimed to determine the fear, pain, and anxiety levels of children aged 7-18 years before and after enema.

Method: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted between January 8 and May 3, 2024. STROBE guidelines were followed in the study. The sample of the study consisted of 160 children between the ages of 7-18 who underwent enema. The data were collected using the Children's Fear Scale (CFS), Wong-Baker FACES® Pain Rating Scale (WBS) and Children's Anxiety Meter-State (CAMS) for Children. p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Descriptive statistics tests, independent sample t-tests, and repeated measures ANOVA were used.

Result: Before the enema, children's fear (2.19 ± 1.09) and pain scores (2.94 ± 1.08) were high and anxiety scores (3.60 ± 1.81) were low. There was no statistical difference between fear, pain, and anxiety levels according to some sociodemographic and clinical characteristics (p > 0.05). After the enema, children's fear (2.49 ± 1.34), pain (2.94 ± 1.35) and anxiety scores (3.88 ± 2.22) increased. However, only the increase in fear level was statistically significant (p > 0.05). There was a negative correlation between the child's age and the level of fear, pain, and anxiety.

Conclusions: An enema is a medical procedure that causes negative emotions for children, such as fear and pain, before and after it is administered. Nursing interventions are needed before and during the enema.

Practice Implications: The high levels of fear, pain, and anxiety associated with enemas suggest the need for routine assessment and nursing interventions to control these negative emotions.