Effects of Virtual Reality, External Cold and Vibration to Children During IM Injection on Pain, Fear and Anxiety

A randomized controlled trial is conducted to evaluation of the effects of virtual reality and local cold-vibration applications in reducing anxiety, fear and pain due to intramuscular (IM) injection in children aged 5-10 years. It has been determined that the use of Virtual Reality and local cold-vibration are effective interventions in reducing anxiety, fear and pain due to IM injection in children aged 5-10 years.

Intramuscular (IM) intervention is a parenteral administration method that is frequently used in children and causes pain. In cases such as inadequacies in pain management and inability to prevent pain, physiological and psychological problems that can last a lifetime can be seen in the child. There are different non-pharmacological methods for reducing pain due to invasive procedures. The use of non-pharmacological methods is an important part of nursing care to reduce the short and long-term negative effects of painful interventions on children. However, the use of non-pharmacological methods to reduce the pain perceived by the child during painful interventions in pediatric emergency units is not common in our country. No study has been found in the literature comparing the effectiveness of virtual reality and Buzzy methods in reducing anxiety, fear and pain due to invasive procedures. This study was planned to compare the effectiveness of virtual reality and local cold application-vibration applications in reducing anxiety, fear and pain caused by intramuscular injection in children aged 5-10 years. It was planned as a randomized controlled experimental study in pre-test, post-test design. The sample of the study was carried out in the Pediatric Emergency Unit of Konya Selcuk University Medical Faculty Hospital. The applicant will consist of 120 children aged 5-10 years. There will be a total of three groups in the research, 2 of which are the intervention group (virtual reality, Buzzy) and the control group (routine application). Data will be collected using the "Child-Parent Description Form", "Child Anxiety Scale-State Scale", "Child Fear Scale", "Wong- Baker Faces Pain Scale". Data will be collected before and within the first 5 minutes after IM injection administration. Scales; to be filled in separately by the child, one of the parents, and the nurse administering the IM injection. As a result of this study, it was concluded that the use of virtual reality glasses and local cold application-vibration (Buzzy) methods are effective in reducing the pain, anxiety and fear that develop during IM injection in children aged 5-10 years.