The Effectiveness of a Preoperative, Interactive Game "SERES Pain in Children".
Condition: Ambulatory Surgery in Children
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Perioperative pain and fear in children is an important health problem in our society, both
      at the time of surgery and in their future life. Nonetheless, the management of perioperative
      pain and fear in children is still challenging and poorly addressed.

      Bad management of perioperative pain and fear can lead to traumatic events. This might result
      in an increased morbidity and mortality on the long term, as these patients do wait
      significantly longer than control subjects to consult medical services (1).

      Previous evidence has shown that preoperative fear, in both children and parents, is a
      significant determinant of perioperative pain (2). Other studies revealed that pain and fear
      are strongly related; higher preoperative stress can result in higher postoperative pain
      scores (3).

      This shows the need for a constructive, effective and clear tool to guide children through
      their perioperative experience. Mindbytes created a serious game, "SERES Pain in Children",
      to address this need.

      Serious gaming is a way of learning, training and educating using gaming principles. Young
      persons, growing up around computers, are especially eligible for gaming. Therefore serious
      gaming is a strategy to catch their attention and educate them in a playful manner. Serious
      gaming is even incorporated in higher education and corporate entities. There are also a few
      examples of serious games for training healthcare providers, supporting patients in their
      therapy, disease management or even to promote healthy wellness and lifestyle to the broader
      public (4,5).

      The "SERES Pain in Children"-game is created with realistic scenarios based on scientific
      literature about perioperative pain and fear in children. The primary goal of the game is to
      provide the children insight in the impact of their personal choices on their well-being and
      on their environment by giving the children information about the day of the surgery. The
      ultimate aim of the game is to create a change in behaviour, enhance children's coping
      strategies and reduce the burden of pain and fear in the children and parents.

      The overall objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation
      of an interactive preparative 'serious' game to decrease the perioperative distress in
      children. Our aim is to validate this game by investigating the level of discomfort in
      children and care providers who played the game before surgery compared to control subjects
      who did not play the game.
    

Detailed description: 
      Background Perioperative pain and fear in children is an important health problem in our
      society, both at the time of surgery and in their future life. Nonetheless, the management of
      perioperative pain and fear in children is still challenging and poorly addressed.

      Bad management of perioperative pain and fear can lead to traumatic events. This might result
      in an increased morbidity and mortality on the long term, as these patients do wait
      significantly longer than control subjects to consult medical services (1).

      Previous evidence has shown that preoperative fear, in both children and parents, is a
      significant determinant of perioperative pain (2). Other studies revealed that pain and fear
      are strongly related; higher preoperative stress can result in higher postoperative pain
      scores (3).

      This shows the need for a constructive, effective and clear tool to guide children through
      their perioperative experience. Mindbytes created a serious game, "SERES Pain in Children",
      to address this need.

      Serious gaming is a way of learning, training and educating using gaming principles. Young
      persons, growing up around computers, are especially eligible for gaming. Therefore serious
      gaming is a strategy to catch their attention and educate them in a playful manner. Serious
      gaming is even incorporated in higher education and corporate entities. There are also a few
      examples of serious games for training healthcare providers, supporting patients in their
      therapy, disease management or even to promote healthy wellness and lifestyle to the broader
      public (4,5).

      The "SERES Pain in Children"-game is created with realistic scenarios based on scientific
      literature about perioperative pain and fear in children. The primary goal of the game is to
      provide the children insight in the impact of their personal choices on their well-being and
      on their environment by giving the children information about the day of the surgery. The
      ultimate aim of the game is to create a change in behaviour, enhance children's coping
      strategies and reduce the burden of pain and fear in the children and parents.

      Main objective The overall objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the
      implementation of an interactive preparative 'serious' game to decrease the perioperative
      distress in children. Our aim is to validate this game by investigating the level of
      discomfort in children and care providers who played the game before surgery compared to
      control subjects who did not play the game.
    

Intervention name(s): CliniPup serious game
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): The interactive game is played at home by the children on a computer or tablet before the surgery. The "SERES Pain in Children"-game is created with realistic scenarios based on scientific literature about perioperative pain and fear in children. The primary goal of the game is to provide the children insight in the impact of their personal choices on their well-being and on their environment by giving the children information about the day of the surgery. The ultimate aim of the game is to create a change in behaviour, enhance children's coping strategies and reduce the burden of pain and fear in the children and parents.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: postoperative pain in children; preoperative anxiety in children