Comparing the Effect of Two Methods of Distraction on the Pain Intensity Venipuncture in School-age Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background Children undergo painful procedures during care and treatment. This study aimed to determine the effect of distraction on the intensity of pain in children aged 6 to 12 years old. Materials and Methods This clinical trial was conducted on the school-age children, who referred to Imam Hossein Hospital, Iran, Heris city, East Azarbaijan province (Iran) in 2017. In total 48 patients were selected through convenience sampling technique and were randomly divided into three groups of 16 cases. In all three groups, pain was measured using the Oucher1 self-report scale, 3 minute before and after the venipuncture. One minute before venipuncture, in the "deep breathing with blowing paper whirligigs" groups after spinning the paper whirligigs and exhalation, in the "deep breathing" groups after exhalation, numbers were counted up to 10 spins or 10 breaths. In the control group, no intervention was performed. The data analysis was performed in the SPSS software (version 13.0). Results: The results showed that "deep breathing with blowing paper whirligigs" (Mean + standard deviation [SD]: 2.69 +/- 0.79) and "deep breathing" (Mean + SD: 2.63 +/- 1.31) reported less pain intensity than the control group (Mean + SD: 5.25 +/- 1.00), and the "deep breathing with blowing paper whirligigs" method had the least pain intensity. The results of ANOVA test showed that there was a significant difference among the groups in terms of pain intensity after intervention (P = 0.001). Conclusion The findings showed that both methods of distraction in this study (deep breathing with blowing paper whirligigs and deep breathing) can effectively decrease the venipuncture pain.