Researchers at The University of Iowa are developing a system to help children better cope with pain during difficult medical procedures, Science Daily reports.
The system uses Web-based software to advise nurses on the best way to distract children from painful procedures, such as reading a book, watching a video, talking, or playing a game.
The research team, led by professors Ann Marie McCarthy and Charmaine Kleiber in the College of Nursing, and Nick Street in the Tippie College of Business, developed the software after analyzing data from a multisite research study that observed parents distracting their children, who were undergoing painful procedures.
The study helped the researchers determine how children cope with pain and what distractions worked best to keep their minds off the pain.
Children between the ages of 4 and 10 at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital participated in this study. Data were collected from 542 subjects, all of whom were having an IV inserted while a video camera recorded the event.
In January, researchers began to pilot the software to determine what distractions work best with different parents and children. Researchers will observe 580 subjects over 30 months during the next phase of research. The children will be patients at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital in Iowa City, Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines, and Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.
The system uses Web-based software to advise nurses on the best way to distract children from painful procedures, such as reading a book, watching a video, talking, or playing a game.
The research team, led by professors Ann Marie McCarthy and Charmaine Kleiber in the College of Nursing, and Nick Street in the Tippie College of Business, developed the software after analyzing data from a multisite research study that observed parents distracting their children, who were undergoing painful procedures.
The study helped the researchers determine how children cope with pain and what distractions worked best to keep their minds off the pain.
Children between the ages of 4 and 10 at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital participated in this study. Data were collected from 542 subjects, all of whom were having an IV inserted while a video camera recorded the event.
In January, researchers began to pilot the software to determine what distractions work best with different parents and children. Researchers will observe 580 subjects over 30 months during the next phase of research. The children will be patients at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital in Iowa City, Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines, and Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.
