TY - JOUR
T1 - The child's perspective on discomfort during medical research procedures
T2 - A descriptive study
AU - Staphorst, M.S.
AU - Benninga, M.A.
AU - Bisschoff, M.
AU - Bon, I.
AU - Busschbach, J.J.V.
AU - Diederen, K.
AU - van Goudoever, J.B.
AU - Haarman, E.G.
AU - Hunfeld, J.A.M.
AU - Jaddoe, V.V.W.
AU - de Jong, K.J.M.
AU - de Jongste, J.C.
AU - Kindermann, A.
AU - Königs, M.
AU - Oosterlaan, J.
AU - Passchier, J.
AU - Pijnenburg, M.W.
AU - de Ridder, L.
AU - Tiemeier, H.W.
AU - Timman, R.
AU - van de Vathorst, S.
AU - Reneman, Liesbeth
AU - Tamminga, Hyke G.
N1 - With supplementary files
PY - 2017/7/1
Y1 - 2017/7/1
N2 - Objective The evaluation of discomfort in paediatric research is scarcely evidence-based. In this study, we make a start in describing children's self-reported discomfort during common medical research procedures and compare this with discomfort during dental check-ups which can be considered as a reference level of a 'minimal discomfort' medical procedure. We exploratory study whether there are associations between age, anxiety-proneness, gender, medical condition, previous experiences and discomfort. We also describe children's suggestions for reducing discomfort. Design Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting Paediatric research at three academic hospitals. Patients 357 children with and without illnesses (8-18 years, mean=10.6 years) were enrolled: 307 from paediatric research studies and 50 from dental care. Main outcome measures We measured various generic forms of discomfort (nervousness, annoyance, pain, fright, boredom, tiredness) due to six common research procedures: buccal swabs, MRI scans, pulmonary function tests, skin prick tests, ultrasound imaging and venepunctures. Results Most children reported limited discomfort during the research procedures (means: 1-2.6 on a scale from 1 to 5). Compared with dental check-ups, buccal swab tests, skin prick tests and ultrasound imaging were less discomforting, while MRI scans, venepunctures and pulmonary function tests caused a similar degree of discomfort. 60.3% of the children suggested providing distraction by showing movies to reduce discomfort. The exploratory analyses suggested a positive association between anxiety-proneness and discomfort. Conclusions The findings of this study support the acceptability of participation of children in the studied research procedures, which stimulates evidence-based research practice. Furthermore, the present study can be considered as a first step in providing benchmarks for discomfort of procedures in paediatric research.
AB - Objective The evaluation of discomfort in paediatric research is scarcely evidence-based. In this study, we make a start in describing children's self-reported discomfort during common medical research procedures and compare this with discomfort during dental check-ups which can be considered as a reference level of a 'minimal discomfort' medical procedure. We exploratory study whether there are associations between age, anxiety-proneness, gender, medical condition, previous experiences and discomfort. We also describe children's suggestions for reducing discomfort. Design Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting Paediatric research at three academic hospitals. Patients 357 children with and without illnesses (8-18 years, mean=10.6 years) were enrolled: 307 from paediatric research studies and 50 from dental care. Main outcome measures We measured various generic forms of discomfort (nervousness, annoyance, pain, fright, boredom, tiredness) due to six common research procedures: buccal swabs, MRI scans, pulmonary function tests, skin prick tests, ultrasound imaging and venepunctures. Results Most children reported limited discomfort during the research procedures (means: 1-2.6 on a scale from 1 to 5). Compared with dental check-ups, buccal swab tests, skin prick tests and ultrasound imaging were less discomforting, while MRI scans, venepunctures and pulmonary function tests caused a similar degree of discomfort. 60.3% of the children suggested providing distraction by showing movies to reduce discomfort. The exploratory analyses suggested a positive association between anxiety-proneness and discomfort. Conclusions The findings of this study support the acceptability of participation of children in the studied research procedures, which stimulates evidence-based research practice. Furthermore, the present study can be considered as a first step in providing benchmarks for discomfort of procedures in paediatric research.
KW - child
KW - discomfort
KW - ethics
KW - research participation
KW - self report
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85026775341&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016077
DO - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016077
M3 - Article
C2 - 28765130
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 7
SP - e016077
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 7
M1 - e016077
ER -