An animated education program to reduce anxiety, vascular complications, and flat time among children undergoing cardiac catheterization: A randomized control trial, study protocol
Authors: Haddad Nibras , Jafar Alshraideh Jafar ALshraideh , Nassar Omayyah , Yacoub Nuha R. 
Published: October 2024

One of the most dangerous and prevalent birth disorders is congenital heart defects (CHD). Children diagnosed with CHD may need many operations or medical treatments throughout their lives, including cardiac catheterization (CC). Children undergoing CC experience elevated levels of anxiety. Elevated levels of anxiety among children undergoing CC can be harmful to children physiologically, psychologically, and behaviorally. Additionally, vascular complications such as bleeding and hematoma represented the majority of complications among children undergoing CC. To achieve positive management outcomes, nurses must use an effective method to prepare children for CC. This study present the protocol for developing and implementing an animated education program (AEP) about CC on anxiety, vascular complications, and flat time among children undergoing CC for the first time. A Parallel Randomized Control Trial (RCT) design will be utilized to test the study hypotheses. It is an experimental design where participants are assigned randomly to either receive an intervention or not, and the outcome of interest is then evaluated after the intervention to assess its impact. The trial had been registered as Clinical Trails.gov PRS (Protocol Registration and Result system) Identifier: Protocol ID 101271-6 and clinical trials.gov ID (NCT06483087) under the brief title: Effect of Animated Education on Anxiety and Vascular Complications (VAEda) ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS). A random sample of 98 children scheduled for a CC, whose ages range from 6 to 12 years old, will be recruited from a military hospital for medical and surgical heart disease in Jordan, with 49 children in the intervention group and 45 children in the control group. Children in the control group will receive routine care. However, children in the experimental group will receive an AEP, an 8-minute carton animated video that illustrates pediatric CC. The animated cartoon video was developed in Arabic using age-appropriate information. The study’s intervention is intended to give adequate information to children to prepare them for the events occurring before, during, and after the CC procedure, it will be presented to the intervention group 24 hours before the procedure. Outcome measures include anxiety levels that will be assessed 2 hours before children undergo CC. Bleeding and hematoma at the CC site will be assessed 2 hours postsheath removal, and flat time will be assessed by recording the hours that the child stays in a flat position postsheath removal. This exploratory experiment is a necessary first step in investigating important components of a full-scale clinical study. This study presents a novel technique designed for children undergoing CC to lower their anxiety, vascular complications, and flat time. The results of the current study provide evidence-based data that can improve nursing practice and research in pediatric cardiac nursing. Create a policy that emphasizes the critical role that nurses play in delivering high-quality health education through the use of AEP.