• Elena Antonelli, Laura Vagnoli, Enrica Ciucci, Chiara Vernucci, Federica Lachi, and Andrea Messeri.
• From the Pain Therapy & Palliative Care and.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2019 Feb 1; 35 (2): 81-88.

ObjectivesThe majority of children and adolescents presenting to the emergency department are in pain and require painful procedures. This randomized study was to investigate the efficacy of 3 different nonpharmacologic interventions (clowns, dogs, and musicians) to reduce pain and analyze the perception of positive and negative affects after the presence of these activities in a short-stay observation unit (SSOU).MethodsParticipants were composed of 105 children (54 boys and 51 girls; aged 3-16 years) assigned randomly to an experimental group (N = 57) that was composed of patients who were present in the SSOU. They received one of the following nonpharmacologic interventions: clowns (n = 18), dogs (n = 24), or musicians (n = 15) or they were assigned to a control group (CG) (N = 48) that consists of the patients who were present in the SSOU without the presence of nonpharmacologic interventions.ResultsDifferences among the groups did not emerge; in fact, the 3 interventions have a similar influence in a different way on a child's well-being. No significant main effect about pain emerged for both groups across age and sex.ConclusionsThe presence of different nonpharmacologic interventions (clowns, dogs, and musicians) seemed to empower positive affect in children but did not influence the self-reported pain.

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