The Effects of Needle Play on Pre-School Children's Anxiety Concerning Injections

<p>The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of needle play in reducing pre-school children's anxiety concerning injections. The Pre-school Observational Scale of Anxiety was used to measure the degree of anxiety experienced by the children. The hypothesis stated that there would be a significant decrease in anxiety of pre-school children who participated in needle play as compared with the anxiety scores of pre-school children who did not participate in needle play.The sample consisted of 20 pre-school children who were receiving routine health care and injections for immunizations or PPDs (purified protein derivative) at a county health department in the southeast. After obtaining informed consent, children were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 10) or experimental group (n = 10). The control group was involved in putting together a puzzle with the investigator prior to their injection. The experimental group participated in needle play with the investigator prior to their injection. The Pre-school Observational Scale of Anxiety (POSA) which specifies behavioral indicators of anxiety in children was used on all subjects immediately prior to the actual needle penetration and a score was given to each subject.The scores on the Pre-school Observational Scale of Anxiety showed no statistically significant difference between the control group and the experimental group when analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U Test. On the basis of these findings, the hypothesis that pre-school children who participate in needle play immediately prior to receiving an injection would show a significant decrease in anxiety when compared to pre-school children who did not-participate in needle play prior to an injection was not accepted.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Related Sciences

Year dc:date.available

1985

Author dc:creator

• Belyea, Michelle Anne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Beauty D. Crummette

• injection
• stress
• needle
• shot
• child
• therapeutic play
• Anesthesiology
• Medical Specialties
• Medicine and Health Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/669

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1668