Investigating the effects of cognitive interventions on reducing pain intensity and modifying heart rate and oxygen saturation level

Abstract

Introduction:In the present study, we investigated the efficacy of cognitive interventions in reducing reported pain intensity as well as modifying heart rate or oxygen saturation level in children with cancer during lumbar puncture or intrathecal injection. Moreover, we studied the relationship between the reported pain intensity and changes in heart rate and oxygen saturation level resulting from lumbar puncture or intrathecal injection.Material and Methods:This is a clinical trial using a pretest-posttest design with control group. 41 child-parent pairs were selected and randomly assigned to two groups. The children were visited twice; on first visit, both groups received routine care. On second visit, the experiment group received cognitive interventions and the second group received routine care. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, Oucher’s self-report pain intensity scale, and pulse oximeter. We used analysis of covariance and Pearson’s correlation to analyze the data.Results:Our findings indicate that the interventions efficiently reduce reported pain intensity, lower heart rate and increase blood oxygen saturation level during lumbar puncture or intrathecal injection. We also found a significant positive correlation between reported pain intensity and changes in heart rate, and a significant negative relationship between reported pain intensity and changes in oxygen saturation level. Conclusion:Cognitive interventions are efficient for reducing reported pain intensity, lowering heart rate and increasing oxygen saturation level during lumbar puncture or intrathecal injection. We recommend cognitive interventions to be used during this painful procedure to manage pain and minimize physiologic changes resulting from lumbar puncture