The Effect of a Social Robot on Children's Pain and Anxiety During Blood Draw
Publication date
2024-06-17
Authors
De Haas, Mirjam
Smit, Koen
Vanegas, Daniel Fernando Preciado
Van Der Roest, Esther
Smakman, Matthijs
Groenestege, Wouter Tiel
Editors
Advisors
Supervisors
Document Type
Part of book
Metadata
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License
taverne
Abstract
Healthcare practitioners often use distraction techniques to ease children's anxiety during blood draws. This study explored the effectiveness of a social robot, Softbank Robotics NAO, in reducing anxiety and pain for children aged 4-12 during blood draws. The robot engaged with children using behaviors tailored to the children's age. Interestingly, results indicated the robot significantly increased anxiety, but pain levels remained unchanged. We argue that this effect may result from the robot's novelty and that, over the long term, the robot could have a positive impact on anxiety, consistent with other studies. This research underscores the potential of social robots to alleviate children's anxiety in medical procedures, enhancing patient experience in pediatric healthcare.
Keywords
Interactive Storytelling, Language Learning, Robot Tutors, Social Robots, Taverne, Behavioral Neuroscience, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Education, Computer Networks and Communications, Human-Computer Interaction, Software, Media Technology, Communication
Citation
De Haas, M, Smit, K, Vanegas, D F P, Van Der Roest, E, Smakman, M & Groenestege, W T 2024, The Effect of a Social Robot on Children's Pain and Anxiety During Blood Draw. in Proceedings of ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference : Inclusive Happiness, IDC 2024. Proceedings of ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Inclusive Happiness, IDC 2024, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, pp. 776-780, 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, IDC 2024, Delft, Netherlands, 17/06/24. https://doi.org/10.1145/3628516.3659393, conference