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Effectiveness of Preoperative Therapeutic Play on Anxiety Among Children Undergoing Invasive Procedure: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

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Abstract

Play is an indispensable part of growing up and by using play to distract children while undergoing invasive procedures can have a positive impact. Play can help children to cope with painful procedures and long-term treatment. The aim of the review was to evaluate the evidence concerning the effect of play on anxiety among children undergoing invasive procedures. This is a systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources: PubMed, The MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Clinical Key, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched between 2012 and 2020. Review methods: randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effectiveness of play on anxiety among children undergoing invasive procedures were included. Meta-analysis was done using Revman v5.3 software. A total of 451 participants from 5 trials were involved in the systemic review and meta-analysis. Self-reported anxiety, parents reported anxiety, and self-reported pain were found significant in intervention [χ2 = 7.57, df = 2 at P < 0.02]. When compared with control group, the review result revealed that experimental group reduced the anxiety and pain (P < 0.05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nursing, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Kurvatteppa Halemani

  2. College of Nursing, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

    Alwin Issac

  3. Dept. of Biostatistics & Health Informatics, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Prabhaker Mishra

  4. Dept. of Anaesthesiology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Sanjay Dhiraaj

  5. Dept.of Pediatric Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ankur Mandelia

  6. Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, Karnataka, India

    Edline Mathias

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  1. Kurvatteppa Halemani
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All authors have agreed on the final version and meet at least one of the following criteria (recommended by the ICMJE).

Conceptualization: KH, EM.

Data curation: KH, AI, PM, SD.

Visualization: KH, PM, EM, AM.

Writing—original draft: KH, AI, SD.

Writing—review and editing: KH, AI, SD, AM.

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Correspondence to Kurvatteppa Halemani.

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Halemani, K., Issac, A., Mishra, P. et al. Effectiveness of Preoperative Therapeutic Play on Anxiety Among Children Undergoing Invasive Procedure: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Indian J Surg Oncol 13, 858–867 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13193-022-01571-1

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