Effect of Hand Holding on Pain and Anxiety

Effect of Hand Holding on Reducing Intramuscular Injection-Induced Pain and Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Study

It was aimed to examine the effect of the hand holding method applied during intramuscular injection on pain and anxiety.

This study was designed as a pre-test-post-test regular parallel group, randomized controlled experimental design. The research will be carried out in the Adult Emergency Service of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey, Konya City Hospital. Patients will be randomly divided into two groups: handholding (52) and control group (52). For the Hand Holding Group: After the patient is positioned appropriately, the patient's hand will be held by the researcher. Once the intramuscular injection is completed, the patient's hand holding will be stopped. For the Control Group: No application will be made during intramuscular injection in the control group. The primary outcome of this study is to determine patients' pain scores during the intramuscular injection procedure. The secondary outcome is to determine the anxiety levels of patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Having vitamin B 12 1000 mcg/ml (1 ml ampoule) intramuscular treatment,
• Being literate,
• Are between the ages of 18-65,
• No visual, hearing, sensory or motor loss or cognitive impairment,
• Not using centrally or peripherally acting analgesics or sedatives,
• There is no scar tissue, incision, lipodystrophy or signs of infection on the skin of the injection area,
• Having a body mass index between 18.5 and 29.5,
• Injected into the ventrogluteal area,
• Individuals who agree to participate in the research will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Those with chronic pain,
• Having a psychiatric disorder,
• Foreign nationals,
• Patients with contact-communicable diseases will be excluded from the study.