The Effect of Self-Selected Distraction Technique on the Pain Caused by Venipuncture in Early Adolescents with Cancer

Abstract

Background: Early adolescents with cancer suffer from pain caused by treatment procedures. They reported the pain from venipuncture made them suffer more than their disease. Unmanaged pain has been associated with their development and quality of life. Distraction has been demonstrated to reduce pain in early adolescents. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of the self-selected distraction technique on the pain caused by venipuncture in early adolescents with cancer.

Methods: A quasi-experimental post-test design with control group was used. Participants were 50 adolescents with cancer (age 10 to 15 years), from the out-patient oncology clinic of a tertiary level hospital in Bangkok. The control group received the routine care, while the experimental received the self-selected distraction during the venipuncture. They were matched pairs on gender, 25 participants in each group. Research instruments included the self-selected distraction technique (listening to music or playing a computer game), demographic data sheet, and the visual analogue pain scale. All instruments were tested for content validity. The reliability of the visual analogue pain scale was 0.99. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test and independent t-test.

Results: Early adolescents with cancer who received the self-selected distraction technique during venipuncture had significantly lower mean pain score than those in the control group (1.33 vs 4.30, p < .001).

Conclusion: This study shows the effect of self-selected distraction technique with a simple and quick way for decreasing the pain caused by venipuncture among early adolescents with cancer.