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CompletedNCT00609960Updated Feb 7, 2008

Clowns as Treatment for Preoperative Anxiety in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

An interventional study of clowns present and midazolam in Pre Operative Anxiety, sponsored by Sheba Medical Center. Completed at 1 site in Israel. Open to participants aged 2 Years to 8 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2008-02-07.

Sponsored by Sheba Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
65
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
2 Years to 8 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study wants to test the hypothesis that trained clowns can reduce anxiety in children undergoing general anesthesia. We will compare the effect of the clowns to the commonly used anti-anxiety medication we commonly use

Read the detailed description

The perioperative environment, often anxiety-provoking for adults, may be quite frightening for children. The detrimental effects of preoperative anxiety are not confined to the preoperative period. Anxiety during induction of anesthesia is correlated with increased distress early in the postoperative period, (Holms Knud, Kain) and maladaptive behavior will follow for the first 2 weeks following surgery in up to 54% of children.

Many preoperative systems allow parental, pharmacologic, and anticipatory interventions to facilitate a relaxed perioperative environment for children. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts, side effects, and limited resources conspire to limit their usefulness. For example, only 10% of respondents in a recent survey used parental presence during induction of anesthesia (PPIA) for a majority of their patients. This may be due to the belief by some that parental anxiety may in fact increase children's anxiety. (Bevans) According to the same survey, only 50% of children undergoing surgery receive sedating premedication. (Kain). Distraction techniques, such as the use of toys or video games, may also decrease perioperative anxiety, however their effectiveness during induction of anesthesia is not well characterized. The efficacy of toys and video games is somewhat dependent upon the child reaching certain developmental milestones. Anesthesiologists continue to search for an easy and comprehensive method for anxiety reduction in the pediatric surgical population. We propose that specially trained professional clowns may allay preoperative anxiety and result in a smooth anesthetic induction.

02

Conditions studied

  • Pre Operative Anxiety

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Keywords

  • children anesthesia anxiety clowns
03

In context

Anxiety Disorders

4,868 studies on the registry are indexed under Anxiety Disorders; 1,390 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 65 is below the median of 80 across 4,174 interventional studies indexed under Anxiety Disorders.

Browse Anxiety Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

Sheba Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 660 studies on the registry; 63 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
2 Years to 8 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • ASA I and II
  • Children aged 2-8 years

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous surgery
  • ASA > II
  • Parents' refusal
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Care provider)
Enrollment
65 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • No intervention
    1

    no medication or clowns present during the preopertaive phase

  • Active comparator
    2

    midazolam a anxiolytic drug was given in the preoperative phase

    Drug: midazolam

  • Active comparator
    3

    clowns where present during the preoperative phase

    Behavioral: clowns present

Interventions

  • Behavioralclowns present

    clowns present during the proccess of induction of anesthesia

  • Drugmidazolam

    midazolam

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. anxiety level

    Time frame: waiting area and enterance to OR -1 hour

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Sheba Medical Center
    Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan 52621, Israel
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 7, 2008, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00609960
Lead sponsor
Sheba Medical Center
First posted
Feb 7, 2008
Start date
Jan 2006
Primary completion
Jan 2007
Completion
Jan 2007
Last update
Feb 7, 2008

Study contacts

Ilan Keidan, MD
principal investigator · Sheba Medical Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2008. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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