Effect of targeted computer games on the pain intensity of school-aged children with rheumatoid arthritis: A quasi-experimental study

The present study investigated the effect of targeted computer games on the pain intensity of school-aged children with rheumatoid arthritis using a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The research population consisted of all school-age children (aged 7 to 12 years) with rheumatoid arthritis admitted to Mofid Hospital in 2021. The data were collected using a numerical rating scale (NRS). The data analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, student’s t-test, and univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Before the intervention, the mean pain intensity scores were 6.26 (standard deviation [SD]=1.40) in the intervention group and 6.11 (SD=1.55) in the control group. The student’s t-test results (t=0.405, P=0.687) indicate no statistically significant difference in baseline pain levels between the groups. However, after the intervention, the mean pain intensity in the intervention group decreased to 5.03 (SD=1.81), whereas in the control group, it remained almost unchanged at 6.09 (SD=1.58). The post-intervention Student’s t-test results (t=2.607, P=0.011) demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in pain intensity in the intervention group compared to the control group. The analysis shows that the pre-test pain intensity significantly influenced post-test values (F=47.053, P<0.0001), indicating that baseline pain levels were a relevant covariate. More importantly, the intervention had a statistically significant effect on pain intensity, as evidenced by the group factor (F=13.751), with an effect size of 0.170. This suggests that targeted computer games had a meaningful impact on reducing pain intensity in the intervention group compared to the control group.