The Effect of Play Dough Activities Before the Venipuncture Procedure on Pain and Anxiety Level in Children: A Randomized Controlled Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of play dough activities applied before the venipuncture procedure on pain and anxiety levels in children. Materials and Methods: The study was a randomized controlled trial. The sample of the study is consisted of 68 children (experimental group=34; control group=34) who agreed to participate in the study and met the sample selection criteria, according to the result of the power analysis. Before the venipuncture process, the children in the experimental group played with play dough, while the children in the control group were only given routine venipuncture. Personal Information Form, Wong-Baker Facial Pain Rating Scale and Child Anxiety Scale-State were used to collect the data. Results: When the results of the research were evaluated, it was found that the Wong-Baker Facial Pain Rating Scale and Child Anxiety Scale-State scores of the children in the experimental group were found to be significantly lower than the ones of the children in the control group (p