USE OF DISTRACTION WITH CHILDREN DURING AN ACUTE PAIN EXPERIENCE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a di straction technique in reducing a child's perceived pain and behaviora l distress during an acute pain experience. A convenience sample of 10 0 children, ages 3 years 6 months through 12 years 11 months, schedule d for routine blood draws, was recruited and randomly assigned to an e xperimental or control group. During venipuncture, the control subject s received standard preparation, which consisted of being comforted by physical touch and soft voices, while experimental subjects were enco uraged to use a kaleidoscope as a distraction technique. Results of th e MANCOVA with age as a covariate, indicated a significant difference between the groups. Univariate post hoc tests confirmed that the exper imental group perceived less pain and demonstrated less behavioral dis tress than the control group.