• Emma Rheel, Anneleen Malfliet, Van RyckeghemDimitri M LDMLDepartment of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.Section Experimental Health Psychology, Clinical Psychological Science, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Ma, Roselien Pas, Tine Vervoort, and Kelly Ickmans.
• Pain in Motion Research Group (PAIN), Department of Physiotherapy, Human Physiology, and Anatomy, Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
• Pain Med. 2022 May 4; 23 (5): 912-933.

ObjectiveWhether parental presence during their children's painful medical procedures is advantageous with regard to children's pain-related outcomes is questionable. Research on this topic is equivocal, and additional questions, such as whether levels of parental involvement may play a role as well, remain to be addressed. The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize and critically appraise the literature on the impact of parental presence vs absence during their children's painful medical procedures on the child's pain-related outcomes.MethodsThe review protocol was registered on Prospero (ID CRD42018116614). A systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycArticles resulted in 22 eligible studies incorporating 2,157 participants. Studies were considered eligible if they included children (≤18 years old) undergoing a painful medical procedure and compared parental presence and/or involvement with parental absence during the procedure.ResultsThe children's pain-related outcomes included self-reported pain intensity, self-reported fear, anxiety and distress, observed pain-related behavior, and physiological parameters. Overall, evidence points in the direction of beneficial effects of parental presence vs absence with regard to children's self-reported pain intensity and physiological parameters, whereas mixed findings were recorded for children's self-reported fears, anxiety and distress, and observed pain-related behaviors.ConclusionsTo provide clear recommendations on how to involve the parent during the procedure, as well as for which type of children and parents parental presence has the best effects, further research is needed, as indicated in this review.© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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