Pain management is an integral and important part of modern healthcare and clinical attention. In recent years, pharmacological pain management regimens have created a major healthcare crisis due to their side effects, more so addiction. It is on this basis that researchers are seeking to establish non-pharmacological pain management procedures. The article by Law et al. (2010) reports on a study designed to establish the efficacy of a particular non-pharmacological pain management process for children. Among the goals of the study was to assess if cognitive distractions can reduce pain perception in children. Another goal of the study was to establish if a higher level of distraction would result in a higher level of reduced pain perception.
Hypothesis
The study reported in Law et al. (2010) is based on a hybrid hypothesis. First, the study is based on the hypothesis that pain perception in children can be reduced by a cognitive distraction such as playing a video game. The second hypothesis upon which the study was based is that pain perception in children is inversely proportional to extent of cognitive distraction. The higher the cognitive distraction, the lower the pain perception.
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Participants
The final sample for the study included 79 participants, 41 of whom were male. The children were aged between 6 and 15 years with a median age of 8.91. Almost half of the children were Caucasian, about a third were African American while the rest were divided among other races. The selection was based on an advertisement undertaken in a summer camp. Informed consent of the children was obtained from their parents. All the tested children were vetted for conditions that would limit their participation such as cognition problems or health grounds that would prevent the use of a cold presser. Out of the total children that agreed to participate, seven were not included in the final tally due to circumstances that took place during the cause of the study.
Technique Used for Test
The process through which the active part of the study was taken was relatively simple. The pain threshold on the cold presser would first be determined without using the VR helmet. Each of the children would be fitted with a VR helmet. In the first study, the child would only watch and not participate in the game. After the first 15 seconds of the game, the child’s hand would be placed in the cold presser. The hand would remain in the cold pressure until the child would withdraw it when the pain threshold is attained. In the second study, the child would participate in the VR game using voice control. The duration during each of the three cold presser sessions would be recorded.
Findings
The pain perception of the children was relatively similar from a perspective of age when the VR helmet was not being used. When the VR helmet was used in the first study, all the children showed a relatively lower pain perception. Finally, when the children were participating in the VR game using voice control, their pain perception was even much lower than it was when they were only watching the game in the first study. The pain perception of the older children was also lower than that of the younger children but only in the second study when they could actively interact with the video game.
Conclusion
Based on the research, analysis, and discussion undertaken in the study, it is clear that cognitive disruption can lower pain perception in children. The finding above means that when the mind becomes engaged, the individual will feel less pain . The research reported in Law et al. (2010) clearly establishes that when children are watching a video game, they feel less pain than when they are not watching the video game despite being exposed to the same amount of pain. The pain experienced reduces further when the children are both watching and interacting with the video game. The hypothesis about pain perception being inversely proportional to cognitive distraction is confirmed.
Reference
Law, E. F., Dahlquist, L. M., Sil, S., Weiss, K. E., Herbert, L. J., Wohlheiter, K., & Horn, S. B. (2010). Videogame distraction using virtual reality technology for children experiencing cold pressor pain: the role of cognitive processing. Journal of Pediatric Psychology , 36 (1), 84-94
