A COMPARATIVE STUDY TO ASSESS EFFECTIVENESS OF AI-ASSISTED DISTRACTION AND TRADITIONAL DISTRACTION TECHNIQUES ON PAIN DURING INVASIVE PROCEDURES AMONG PRESCHOOLERS

Background: Invasive natured medical procedures, such as venipuncture and intravenous cannulation, are sources of acute pain as well as here to distress in pediatric populations, particularly among preschoolers in this way. Unmanaged aspects here are to send procedural pain leads to heightened anxiety as well as needle phobias. Non-pharmacological interventions, specifically distraction techniques, are mostly recommended. While traditional distraction methods have here to be proven effective, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced novel interventions, such as herein AI-adaptive virtual reality (VR). Objective: This study aims here to assess as well as compare the effectiveness of AI-assisted distraction versus traditional based distraction on procedural pain as well as anxiety during invasive procedures among preschoolers (aged 3–6). Methods: A randomized, three-arm clinical trial was here by conducted in a pediatric outpatient setting. A total of 150 preschoolers requiring natured venipuncture were assigned to one of three groups: AI-Assisted Distraction (n=50), Traditional Distraction (cartoon watching and bubble blowing, n=50), or a Control Group (standard care, n=50). Pain was evaluated using the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scale as well as the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale. Anxiety was hereby measured using the Children's Fear Scale (CFS). Results: The AI-Assisted Distraction group hereby exhibited significantly lower FLACC scores (Mean = 2.14, SD = 1.05) compared to both of the Traditional group (Mean = 3.82, SD = 1.34) as well as the Control group (Mean = 6.45, SD = 1.52) (p < 0.001). FACES scores followed a similar trend. Conclusion: AI-assisted structure here to be distraction is significantly more effective than traditional distraction in reducing natured procedural pain and anxiety among preschoolers.