Study of the effect of bubble blowing on the pain intensity due to IV catheters in children

Bacground and Pain is a health problem and a major part of life in childhood. Many children especially the children with chronic diseases such as thalassemia suffer from pain due to treatment procedures. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of bubble blowing on pain intensity during IV Catheter insertion in children with thalasemia. This was an experimental single blind clinical trial. The method was cross-over and included one group. In this study, 32 thalassemic children aged between 5 to 12 years entered into the study via convenient sampling method. Each sample was randomly chosen and two methods of bubble blowing and control (Routin intervention) were performed in two stages. The data were collected by use of Ocher scales and CMFS questionnaire. Validity and reliability of Ocher scales have been aproved in various studies. Collected data were analyzed by means of t- and wilcoxon tests. The findings of the this study showed that the values for mean pain intensity according to numeral scales were 6.88 and 17.81 in bubblebleowing and control groups respectively. According to photographic scales this value was 0.44 for bubble blowing and 1.19 for control group respectively. Paired t-test and wilcoxon test showed a significant difference between bubble blowing and routin interveation (p=0.000). The results of this study indicated that bubble blowing decreases pain of IV catheter insertion. Since bubble blowing method is more economical, using diffrent distraction methods during catheter insertion will promote life quality of thalassmic children.