Fear, Emotional Behaviors and Parental Care Satisfaction Related to Inhalation Therapy

Effects of Finger Puppet, Video Game and Stress Ball on Fear, Emotional Behaviors and Parental Care Satisfaction Related to Inhalation Therapy in 4-6 Year Old Children

This study aim to determine the effect of finger puppet, video game or stress ball methods on the fear levels, emotional behaviors and parental care satisfaction of children aged 4-6 years due to inhaler treatment.

This study was conducted in a randomized, experimental research design. The study was conducted in the pediatric emergency unit of a public hospital with 120 children between January 2024-2025. The finger puppet, stress ball, and video game groups each have 40 children. The inclusion criteria are: the child must be between 4-6 years old, receive inhaler treatment via mask, not have received inhaler treatment for the last 6 months, receive bronchodilator medications as part of inhaler treatment, have no vision or speech problems, have no hearing problems, both the child and the parent must speak and understand Turkish fluently, and the child must be willing to participate in the study, with the families agreeing to participate in the research and signing the informed consent form. Data were collected using the descriptive information form, child fear scale, children's emotional manifestation scale and PedsQL health care satisfaction scale. It was found that finger puppet and video game were more effective on emotional values during inhaler treatment procedure in children compared to stress ball.

Inclusion Criteria:

• the child being between 4-6 years old,
• receiving inhaler treatment via mask,
• not having received inhaler treatment for the last 6 months,
• receiving bronchodilator medications as part of inhaler treatment,
• having no vision or speech problems,
• having no hearing problems,
• the child and parent being able to speak and understand Turkish fluently,
• being willing to participate in the study, and the families agreeing to participate in the research and signing the informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

• the child receiving medications other than bronchodilators as part of inhaler treatment,
• the child and parent not being able to speak or understand Turkish fluently, and not being willing to participate in the study.