Medical University started a clinical trial of Coronavirus (COVID-19) educational program for children

Photo by Marisa Howenstine

The Medical University of Vienna is enrolling patients into the clinical trial investigating CARTOON: CoronAviRus (COVID-19) educaTional prOgram fOr childreN (CARTOON).

The study aims to investigate whether our CoronAviRus educaTional prOgram fOr children (CARTOON) facilitates the adherence to hygiene measures and is feasible to dispel fear in preschool children (3-6 years old) during the pandemic.

The trial is designed to enroll male and female 3 to 6 years and is being conducted in the Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

The study start date is January 6, 2021.

Among primary outcome measures are Change of Emotional Outcome, Change of Knowledge Outcome and Behavior of the Participants.

For the assessment of emotional wellbeing, fear, and burden during the pandemic researchers will use the emotional scale which measure feelings including emotional wellbeing, fear, and burden.

Since it is often hard for children to describe their own feelings with words, we will use the emotional scales of Gräßler and colleagues. These scales use child-friendly illustrated pictures and can be used to support the children in naming their feelings including emotional wellbeing, fear, and burden.

Behavior will be assessed by using the parent and teacher reported Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The CBCL is a questionnaire for parents and teachers revealing behavioral problems of children and adolescents. In the CBCL/1.5-5, two evaluation methods are available. In the first evaluation method, questions are grouped in seven empirically based problem scales including emotionally reactive, anxious/depressed, aggressive behavior, attention problems, somatic complaints, sleep problems, and withdrawn.

This page provides a more detailed overview of this clinical trial: https://ichgcp.net/clinical-trials-registry/NCT04724616