Date of Award

2021

Degree Type

Selective Evidence-Based Medicine Review

Degree Name

Master of Science in Health Sciences - Physician Assistant

Department

Physician Assistant Studies

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not “Does Buzzy® reduce needlestick pain in children between the ages 5 and 12 years old?”

STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review of three nonblinded, randomized controlled trials (RCTs). All studies were published in English between 2018 and 2019.

DATA SOURCES: Three RCTs were obtained from PubMed and published in peer-reviewed journals. The studies were chosen based on their relevance to the clinical question.

OUTCOMES MEASURED: In all of the articles used for this review, the main outcome measured was pain reduction. The participants’ level of pain was measured with either the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) or the Oucher Scale. Self-reported pain levels were assessed either immediately after the procedure was completed, one minute after the procedure was completed, or during the procedure.

RESULTS: In the RCT conducted by Bilgen et al., there was a significant reduction in pain with the use of Buzzy® compared to the control group. The mean pain difference between the control group and Buzzy® group was 3.72. The p-value was calculated to be <0.001, making this study statistically significant with a large treatment effect. The RCT conducted by Sahiner et al. showed a mean pain difference between the control group and Buzzy® group of 1.94, with a calculated p-value of 0.008. This study was shown to be statistically significant and had a large treatment effect. In the RCT conducted by Alemdar et al., the mean pain difference was 2.36 with a p-value of 0.001. The study was found to have a large treatment effect and statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Statistical significance was found in all RCTs based on the calculated pvalues. The Buzzy® intervention group in each study showed a large treatment effect when comparing pain levels to the control group. The results of this review are conclusive and show that the use of Buzzy® to reduce needlestick pain in children is effective. Future studies could be conducted with blind raters.

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