The effect of a video-based COVID-19 paediatric patient education on state anxiety in children with suspected COVID-19 admitted to hospital.
Yağmur Şancı, Serap Çelik, Suzan Yıldız
PMID 37352645WHAT IT FOUND
A 4-minute video explaining hospital procedures lowered children's anxiety scores, but without a control group this cannot show the video worked.
The drop happened after swabs and scans, which may have settled the children themselves.
Key findings
01State anxiety scores fell significantly from before to after the education in both age groups, but the study had no control group and the second measurement was taken after emergency procedures.
02The reduction was larger in 4 to 10 year olds who feared hospitals, and in 11 to 12 year old girls, suggesting the effect was not uniform across the group.
03The video was shown before the child watched the swab, scan and other emergency procedures, so the contribution of the education cannot be separated from the effect of the procedures themselves.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
There was no control group. Every child got the video, so there is nothing to compare the before-and-after change against. The second anxiety score was taken after the swab, scan and other emergency procedures, so any calming that came from the procedures being finished is counted as an effect of the video. The children and parents knew they were being studied and had just watched an education video, which can make them report feeling better. It was done in one hospital in Turkey in the first months of the pandemic, with a very short 15 minute interview window. Anxiety was self-reported by children using two different scales chosen by age, and the paper reports no blinding of the researcher who collected the scores. The subgroup differences the authors highlight were not the main question and are drawn from small numbers, such as 15 eleven to twelve year olds who feared hospitals.
Declared interests
The authors declare no competing financial or personal interests. The paper does not name a funder for the study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the significant fall in anxiety scores as proof the video worked. The study had no control group, and the after score was taken once the swab and scans were done, so the effect of the education cannot be separated from the relief of the procedures being over.