The Effect of Using Finger Puppets and Showing Cartoons on Pain and Fear in Preschool Children During Blood Collection

The Effect of Using Finger Puppets and Showing Cartoons on Pain and Fear in Preschool Children (3-6 Years Old) During Blood Collection

The study is a randomized controlled experimental study aimed at determining the effect of showing cartoons or using finger puppets to children aged 3-6 years before taking venous blood samples on their pain levels.

Based on the results of this study, it is thought that showing cartoons and using finger puppets before blood collection will help reduce pain levels in children and improve their ability to cope with pain, thereby improving the quality of care. In this context, the study will be conducted to determine the effect of showing cartoons and using finger puppets before blood collection on pain in pediatric patients.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Pain; Fear
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: showing finger puppets during blood collection; Other: cartoons; Other: control group

Detailed Description

Children between the ages of three and six have the language skills to express pain at a sensory level. They can describe the location and intensity of the pain. They may cry, scream, and exhibit aggressive behavior in response to pain. They may think of invasive procedures such as blood collection as punishment. Before any procedures are performed, the child should be informed about the procedures that will be performed and their stress and fear should be reduced by helping them relax. Nurses should use non-pharmacological methods appropriate for the age group of the children during painful procedures to reduce the level of pain perceived by the children. In this study, I will examine the effect of showing cartoons and finger puppets to children during blood collection on pain and fear.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Merkez
    • Çorum, Merkez, Turkey (Türkiye), 19200
      • Hitit University Erol Olçok Education and Research Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• The child and parent agree to participate in the study.
• The child is between 3 and 6 years old.
• The child has no acute pain complaints.
• The child has no disabilities.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The child and parent refuse to participate in the study.
• The child is under 3 years of age or over 6 years of age.
• The child has acute pain complaints.
• The child has any disability.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: finger puppet group; During the blood collection procedure, 40 children were randomly selected to play with finger puppets.	Other: showing finger puppets during blood collection; finger puppets
Experimental: watching cartoons group; During the blood collection procedure, 40 children were randomly selected to watch cartoons.	Other: cartoons; Watching cartoons during blood collection
Experimental: control group; No intervention was performed on the children.	Other: control group; No intervention was made during blood collection

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale	Pain scores are given according to the numerical values assigned to the faces on this scale. It is explained to the child that the faces on the scale do not represent people who are happy because they are not in pain or unhappy because they are in pain. A very happy person is Face 0. A little pain is Face 1, a little more pain is Face 2, a little more pain is Face 3, and quite a lot of pain is Face 4. Face 5 represents the highest level of pain that can be imagined. The child is asked to choose the face that best describes the pain they are feeling.	4 months
Children's Fear Scale (CFS)	CFS is used to score the fear that may cause pain in children before or during the procedure. The scale is a visual measurement tool consisting of five drawn lines ranging from a neutral facial expression (0 = no fear) to a frightened facial expression (4 = very afraid), with scores ranging from 0 to 4. The scale is used to assess the fear of pain in children before or during a procedure. The scale is a visual measurement tool consisting of five drawn lines ranging from a neutral facial expression (0 = no fear) to a frightened facial expression (4 = very afraid), with scores ranging from 0 to 4. The scale is used to assess the fear of pain in children before or during a procedure. . The Turkish language validity and psychometric properties of the scale used to assess procedural fears in children aged 5-12 were tested	4 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Information Form	Information Form: The form includes questions regarding the date of the procedure, the reason for the children's admission to the hospital, the duration of the procedure, the method used, the children's age, gender, whether they had received analgesics in the last 24 hours, whether they had undergone a blood draw in the last 6 months, whether any preparatory measures were taken before the blood draw and, if so, which method was used, the parents' age, family structure, and family education level.	4 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hitit University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 10, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 25, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 1, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 17, 2025
• First Posted (Estimated): November 19, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 26, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 19, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: blood collection; watching cartoons; finger puppet
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Pain; Investigative Techniques; Epidemiologic Research Design; Epidemiologic Methods; Research Design; Methods; Control Groups
• Other Study ID Numbers: HititU-SBF-ZÇ-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: I will not share the work data with anyone.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No