Effectiveness of Visualising Kaleidoscope on Pain and Behavioural Responses among Children During Intravenous Cannulation

Abstract

Despite extensive research evidence and established guidelines, the management of pediatric pain during clinical procedures remains inadequate. Children undergoing intravenous cannulation frequently experience pain, fear, and adverse behavioural responses, and although pharmacological interventions are effective, their routine use during minor procedures is often impractical or undesirable. Therefore, the researcher carried out a study to evaluate the impact of visualizing a kaleidoscope on children's pain and behavioral reactions during intravenous cannulation. The goals were to compare the pain and behavioral responses of the experimental and control groups during intravenous cannulation, determine the relationship between the experimental group's pain and behavioral responses and the chosen demographic variables, and assess the impact of visualizing kaleidoscope on children's pain and behavioral responses during intravenous cannulation. A quantitative research approach with post-test only control group design was adopted. The sample consists of 60 children’s aged 6-12 years, selected using simple random sampling, and divided into experimental and control groups. following the acquisition of signed informed permission from the parents of children admitted to PRS Hospital's paediatric unit. Data about demographics were gathered. Five minutes before to the intravenous cannulation, the children in the experimental group were given a kaleidoscope and instructed to view the colored pattern through the eyepiece. It was continued until the procedure was completed. Children allocated to the control group received standard treatment. The investigator used the FLACC scale to measure the child's objective pain during vaccination. The Wong Bakers Faces Pain Rating Scale was used to measure the children's subjective pain five minutes following the surgery. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics The results revealed that the experimental group demonstrated a lower mean pain and behavioral response score (Mean = 1.5, SD = 0.51) compared to the control group (Mean = 4.6, SD = 0.50). The mean difference between the two groups was 0.1. The obtained t value was 23.85, which was statistically significant at the 0.0001^*** level (p < 0.05). This indicates a highly significant reduction in pain and negative behavioral responses among children in the experimental group during IV cannulation. The study concluded that the kaleidoscope distraction technique was effective in reducing pain and improving behavioral responses during IV cannulation.