Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2004 Dec;29(8):621-6.
doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsh064.

Brief report: Evaluation of an interactive intervention designed to reduce pediatric distress during radiation therapy procedures

James L Klosky  1 , Vida L Tyc, Deo Kumar Srivastava, Xin Tong, Mindy Kronenberg, Zorana J Booker, Alberto J de Armendi, Thomas E Merchant
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Brief report: Evaluation of an interactive intervention designed to reduce pediatric distress during radiation therapy procedures

James L Klosky et al. J Pediatr Psychol. 2004 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of an interactive intervention in reducing distress related to radiation therapy (RT) among pediatric cancer participants as measured by occurrence of sedation, observed behavioral distress (OBD), and heart rate (HR).

Methods: Seventy-nine children receiving RT simulation were assigned randomly to a STARBRIGHT Hospital Pals group (i.e., interactive intervention group; IG) or modified control group (MCG). The interactive intervention included filmed modeling, exposure to an interactive Barney character, and passive auditory distraction.

Results: Children in the IG experienced significantly lower HR when compared with MCG participants. No differences were found in terms of sedation or OBD.

Conclusions: The interactive intervention was effective at reducing RT-related distress (as measured by HR) and would be a useful tool in pediatric radiation oncology settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types