Effects of Therapeutic Clowning on Pain and Anxiety During Intrathecal Chemotherapy in Turkey

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of therapeutic clowning on pain and anxiety during intrathecal chemotherapy.

Design & methods

The study was conducted using a quasi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest control group design. The study sample was composed of children between 7 and 12 years old (N = 78) who had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and were undergoing intrathecal chemotherapy in a hospital in Turkey. The study was conducted with children who received services at this hospital. The results were obtained from 74 children (i.e. 36 in the control group, 38 in the clown group). The data were collected with a questionnaire developed by the researchers, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Faces Pain Rating Scale (FACES). VAS and FACES were used to measure pain and anxiety levels. Therapeutic clowning was applied to children in the intervention group. Analyses included percentage distributions, mean, chi-square, t-test, variance, and correlation analysis.

Results

Results showed that children in the clown group had significantly lower pain and anxiety than children in the control group (p < .001).

Conclusions

According to the results, therapeutic clowning was effective in relieving the pain and anxiety of children between the ages of 7 and 12 years who undergone intrathecal chemotherapy.

Practice implications

Due to its positive effects, therapeutic clowning could be explore for use in other areas of paediatric nursing for the children between the ages of 7 and 12 years as a complementary treatment.