â–ºChildren like avatars and cartoons.

â–ºVirtual-reality might be a very useful tool for social interactions of anxious individuals in highly controlled situations.

â–ºAs drugs’ administration may cause fear, stress and pain in children, explain to the children how the doctor and the nurse are going to administer medications using avatars could reduce these symptoms in children.

   OBJECTIVE  

To evaluate the effect of avatars explaining the drugs administration routes in the face to face communication between doctor/nurse and the children and in the children's anxiety levels in hospital-treated children.

METHODS  

â–ºApproval from local institutional review board and Parent's Informed Consent signal.

â–ºProspective, Aleatorized and Controlled Study

â–ºInclusion Criteria: Both sex, and age ≥ 3 and < 6 years

â–ºExclusion Criteria: Children with medium/intense severity disease; who could not speak; who were sedated or unconscious

â–ºAleatorization: Avatar vs. control

♦Control Group: The children could not see the film

 

 

â–ºAnxity and pa in intensitues were measured before and 5 h after drugs administration by the STAIC test and the VAS scale and Wong-Baker Pain Evaluation Scale.

 

â–ºStatistical analysis: Student t test, ANOVA test followed by Bonferroni post-test, Chi-square test.

426 children (aged 3-6 years, 4.8±1,5 years old, 59% male) treated in the emergency, surgery and intensities care unit were enrolled. The drugs routes administration were oral/nasogastric tube (42%), intramuscle (35%), intravenous (20%), inhalatory (1,5%), intrathecal (1%), others (0.5%). Anxiety and pain, and were higher (p<0.05) in control than in avatar-drugs explained group (8.2±3.1 vs. 5.1±1 and 5.6±0.5 vs. 3.2±0.3, respectively). Control group wept, complained, and called their parents during more time than avatar-drugs explained group.

426 children (aged 3-6 years, 4.8±1,5 years old, 59% male) treated in the emergency, surgery and intensities care unit were enrolled. The drugs routes administration were oral/nasogastric tube (42%), intramuscle (35%), intravenous (20%), inhalatory (1,5%), intrathecal (1%), others (0.5%). Anxiety intensity, pain intensity, time of wept, and number of complained were significantly higher (p<0.05) in control than in avatar group (control vs. avatar): 8.2±3.1 vs. 5.1±1 and 5.6±0.5 vs. 3.2±0.3, 45±10 vs. 24±8, 61±13 vs. 31±12, respectively. The number of called their parents was non-significant higher in the control group with respect to the avatar group.

Table 1. Avatars vs. control parameters

Anxiety was higher (p<0.05) in control than in drugs explained by avatar group, 7.3±2.1 vs. 3.8±1.3 and 5.6±0.5 respectively. Pain, was non-significant higher in control than in drugs explained by avatar group 5.6±0.5 vs. 3.2±0.3, respectively. Children of the control group wept, complained, and called their parents during more time than avatar-drugs explained group.

Figure 1. Anxiety Intensity, Pain Intensity, Time of Wept, Number of Complained and Number of Call to their Parents.

The use of avatars to explain the drugs routes administration to hospital-treated paediatric patients increased doctor/nursing-children communication and reduced children’s anxiety.

Drugs’ administration usually causes fear, stress, anxiety and pain in young children. We may reduced then and increase communication between children and doctors/nurses by using avatars to explain the drugs routes administration to hospital-treated children.

 To the parents and children included in the study.

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