Preparing children for venepuncture. The effect of an integrated intervention on distress before and during venepuncture

Venepuncture for routine blood sampling is a very distressing experience fo r a considerable number of children. Not only do they express high levels o f distress during venepuncture but also in anticipation of the procedure. T herefore, prevention or reduction of distress should focus on both phases o f the procedure. To this end, three preparation elements were combined: loc al anaesthesia of the skin, provision of sensory and procedural information , and involvement of the parent. In order to test the effect of this integr ated procedure on the distress reactions of young children before as well a s during venepuncture, 31 children were randomly assigned to one of two con ditions: preparation or no preparation. Independent raters, who were blind to group assignments, scored segments of the videotaped behaviour of the ch ildren, according to the Groninger Distress Scale. Prepared children displa yed significantly less distress before and during venepuncture than not-pre pared children, regardless of their gender, ethnical origin, age, injection history, and the tension of their parent.