Aim and objectives
Virtual reality (VR) can be used during painful procedures in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of two different VR methods on procedure‐related pain, fear and anxiety of children aged 5–12 years old during blood draw.
Methods
This randomised controlled study used parallel trial design guided by the CONSORT checklist, see Supporting Information. The sample of children (n = 136) was allocated to the VR‐Rollercoaster (n = 45), VR‐Ocean Rift (n = 45) and control group (n = 46) using blocked randomisation. The primary outcome was pain scores after the blood draw and fear and anxiety scores before and after the blood draw. Before the blood draw, fear and anxiety scores were assessed using self‐report and reports from the parents and the researcher using the Child Fear Scale and Children's Anxiety Meter. After the blood draw, level of pain experienced was assessed using the Wong–Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale and the fear and anxiety levels experienced by the children during the blood draw were re‐evaluated.
Results
Pain scores were found to be lower in the VR‐Rollercoaster group and the VR‐Ocean Rift group. A statistical difference was found between groups according to self‐, parent‐ and researcher‐reported fear and anxiety scores after blood draw. While being in VR‐Rollercoaster and VR‐Ocean Rift group reduced children's fear and anxiety, being in the control group increased fear levels by 20% and anxiety levels by 34.1%.
Conclusions
VR is an effective method in reducing procedure‐related pain, fear and anxiety in children aged 5–12 years old during blood draw.
Relevance to clinical practice
Evidence‐based guidelines and protocols should be created for nonpharmacological methods such as VR for procedural pain and anxiety in children.
This study examined the effect of problematic Internet use, social appearance anxiety, and social media use on nursing students' nomophobia levels. This study was conducted with 755 undergraduate nursing students. Sociodemographic data were evaluated using percentages and means. The effect of problematic Internet use, social appearance anxiety, and social media use on nomophobia levels was assessed by simple linear regression analysis. The mean age of participants was 21.4 ± 1.3; 82.5% were female, and 59.7% (n = 450) had adequate incomes. According to the regression analysis, nomophobia levels have a strong, positive, and significant relationship with the variables of problematic Internet use (β = .39, P < .000), social appearance anxiety (β = .27, P < .001), and social media dependency (β = .28, P < .001). Examining the correlation between nursing students' problematic Internet use, social appearance anxiety, and social media use levels, nomophobia levels had a positively moderate relationship with problematic Internet use (r = 0.259, P < .001), social appearance anxiety (r = 0.320, P < .001), and social media use levels (r = 0.433, P < .001). There is a direct correlation between nomophobia levels and the variables of problematic Internet use, social appearance anxiety, and social media use.
It was determined that male adolescents with high levels of Internet addiction also had high smartphone addiction levels. On the other hand, sociodemographic variables had no statistically significant effect on smartphone addiction. A number of studies in the relevant literature examined the effects of Internet addiction on adolescents' smartphone addiction. However, findings of this study are unique because they are specific to the Turkish culture, and there is a limited database in Turkey regarding this issue. The researchers believe that the findings of this study will be beneficial to show the importance of the issue in the international arena and to guide further studies to prevent this addiction because there is no reliable database about smartphone addiction in Turkey.
This study indicates that the participants were exposed to high levels of bullying. As exposure to bullying negatively affects the job attitudes of nursing students, further studies are necessary to develop strategies to prevent horizontal bullying.
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