A small study appearing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood suggests that television can have a powerful analgesic (painkilling) effect in children. The research was carried out on three groups of children aged between 7 and 12 who were all having a blood sample taken. One of the groups was provided with no distraction, another group had their mothers actively distracting them with soothing and caressing; and the final group were allowed to watch cartoons while the blood sample was taken. The children and their mothers then rated their pain scores.
Somewhat predictably, the children recording the highest pain scores were in the group where no distraction was provided. Middle scores were recorded by those children whose mothers had attempted to actively distract them, but the lowest pain scores were for the children who had been allowed to watch cartoons. Incredibly, the scores from the children who were not distracted were around three times as high as those recorded by the children allowed to watch television.
The researchers believe television could be an effective pain reduction strategy in all sorts of settings, as pain is stressful for children, even when relatively minor procedures are involved.
Source: British Medical Journal
