The Effects of Medical Clowns in Children Undergoing Blood Tests

Overview

The investigators hypothesized that the participation of therapeutic clowns in the pediatric emergency department procedure room would reduce anxiety, improve the level of cooperation children can provide and avoid some of the adverse effects.

Research has demonstrated that cognitive psychological techniques, including distraction, can increase pain tolerance. Humor can be an important intervention, able to reduce stress to both the child and the parent. In the last decade there has been a rapid growth in the presence of therapeutic clowns in hospital, particularly in pediatric settings. If therapeutic clowns are shown to positively affect any of the parameters being measured in this study, they should be included as aprt of the standard of care in the pediatric emergency setting.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes