Abstract
Objective: To report the results of a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychological interventions for children and adolescents undergoing needle-related procedures. Methods: A variety of cognitive-behavioral psychological interventions for managing procedural pain and distress in children and adolescents between 2 and 19 years of age were examined. Outcome measures included pain and distress as assessed by self-report, observer report, behavioral/observational measures, and physiological correlates. Results: Twenty-eight trials met the criteria for inclusion in the review and provided the data necessary for pooling the results. Together, the trials included 1,039 participants in treatment conditions and 951 in control conditions. The largest effect sizes for treatment improvement over control conditions were found for distraction, combined cognitive-behavioral interventions, and hypnosis, with promising but limited evidence for several other psychological interventions. Conclusions: Recommendations for conducting future RCTs are provided, and particular attention to the quality of trial design and reporting is highlighted.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 842-854 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Pediatric Psychology |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2008 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:L.S.U. was funded by the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (NSHRF). C.T.C. and P.J.McG. are supported by Canada Research Chairs (CRCs). This research was supported by an IWK Establishment Award awarded to C.T.C. We thank all the members of C.T.C.’s research team who helped with different aspects of this project: Darby Eakins, Jessica Ferguson, Kelly Hayton, Crystal Holly, and Sarah Peddle. We also thank the Dalhousie Cochrane Group, and the Cochrane Pain, Palliative, and Supportive Care (PAPAS) group for their assistance with various parts of this review. The results reported in this article are part of a systematic review completed for the Cochrane Collaboration (Issue 4, 2006). Portions of this review were presented at the 12th Cochrane Colloquium (Ottawa, ON, October 2004), the 5th Biennial International Forum on Pediatric Pain (White Point, NS, May 2005) and the International Association for the Study of Pain 11th World Congress on Pain (Sydney, Australia, August 2005).
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Developmental and Educational Psychology