The Effect of therapeutıc Game on Preschool chıldren
Condition: Fear; Nurse; Hospital
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      In processes such as illness, hospital, medical procedures, and nursing interventions, the
      fears experienced by children should be reduced before the procedure. It may be more
      effective to give interventions to reduce children's fears in a school setting rather than in
      a complex environment such as a hospital. In this context, there is a need for experimental
      studies that reveal the effect of therapeutic play on nursing interventions and fear of
      medical materials in preschool children.
    

Detailed description: 
      Entrance: In processes such as illness, hospital, medical procedures, and nursing
      interventions, the fears experienced by children should be reduced before the procedure. It
      may be more effective to give interventions to reduce children's fears in a school setting
      rather than in a complex environment such as a hospital. In this context, there is a need for
      experimental studies that reveal the effect of therapeutic play on nursing interventions and
      fear of medical materials in preschool children.

      Aim: This study was planned to determine the effect of therapeutic play on nursing
      interventions and fear of medical materials in preschool children.

      Method/ Data Collection Techniques:This research was planned as a quasi-experimental study
      with pretest-posttest and control group. The universe of the research will consist of 170
      children studying in pre-school classes at the Chamber of Commerce Primary School located in
      the city center of Aydın. The sample size of the study was calculated using G*power analysis
      and it was found that a total of 70 children (study: 35 children, control: 35 children).
      However, considering the losses from the research and the possibility of children filling in
      the questionnaires incomplete or incorrectly, the number of children was increased by 10% and
      it was planned to complete the study with 80 (study: 40 children, control: 40 children)
      children. It is planned to collect the data between March 1 and June 1, 2023. The child to be
      included in the study and their parents will be informed about the study, verbal consent will
      be obtained from the children and written consent will be obtained from the parents. After
      obtaining parental consent about the study, the parents of the children in both the study and
      control groups will have to fill in the "Introductory Information Form" and the children will
      fill in the "Scale of Fear of Nursing Interventions and Used Materials in Children" before
      the therapeutic play. The therapeutic game content to be applied to the study group consists
      of four sessions organized by considering nursing interventions and materials used in the
      hospital. In each session, various game activities will be held with different materials.
      Therapeutic play activity will not be planned for the children in the control group. One week
      after the therapeutic play activities are completed, the children will have to fill out the
      "Scale of Fear Against Nursing Interventions and Used Materials in Children".

      The data obtained in the research will be analyzed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for
      Social Sciences) for Windows 22.0 program. Homogeneity of descriptive features between groups
      will be tested by chi-square analysis. The Kolmogorov Smirnov Test will be used to determine
      whether the research data are normally distributed. In the analysis of study data,
      descriptive statistics, if the data show normal distribution, independent group-t-test and
      changes within the group repeated measurements Anova test; If it does not have a normal
      distribution, Mann Whitney-U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test will be used.

      Expected Results: Thanks to the results obtained from this study, it is expected that the
      familiarity of children with nursing interventions and materials with the therapeutic play
      method in their own environment such as school will help them experience less fear and adapt
      easily during a possible hospital experience in the future.
    

Intervention name(s): Therapeutic play hospital fear and nursing interventions
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Children assigned to the study group will be divided into 5 groups, with a maximum of 8 children. The researcher will perform a therapeutic play activity with each group consisting of maximum 8 children one day of the week in the room and time determined by the school. Each activity will last an average of 30 minutes. Therapeutic play activities will be completed in 4 weeks.
Therapeutic play activities will not be performed with the children in the control group.
One week after the completion of the therapeutic play intervention, the researcher will re-fill the Child Nursing Interventions and Fear of Materials Scale-uncommon materials sub-dimension face-to-face with the children in the study and control groups.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: Fear, hospital, nurse, play therapy, preschool