An interventional study of Cartoon-Assisted Distraction (Şüko Ameliyat Oluyor) and Mobile Game in Preoperative Anxiety, Children and Appendicitis (Diagnosis), sponsored by Ankara City Hospital Bilkent. Recruiting at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 7 Years to 12 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-10.
Sponsored by Ankara City Hospital Bilkent · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
his study aims to evaluate the effects of cartoon viewing and mobile game playing on preoperative anxiety and fear levels in children aged 7-12 years who are hospitalized for appendicitis surgery. The study is designed as a randomized controlled trial with three groups: a cartoon group, a mobile game group, and a control group receiving routine care.
Children in the intervention groups will watch a cartoon or play a mobile game for 10 minutes before surgery. Anxiety and fear levels will be measured using validated scales before and after the intervention. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to atraumatic care practices by providing simple and effective non-pharmacological methods to reduce preoperative anxiety and fear in children.
Preoperative anxiety and fear are common among children undergoing surgery and may negatively affect both perioperative outcomes and postoperative recovery. Non-pharmacological, atraumatic care interventions are recommended to minimize psychological distress in pediatric patients. Among these interventions, distraction techniques such as cartoon viewing and mobile game playing are widely used due to their practicality and accessibility.
This randomized controlled trial aims to compare the effects of cartoon viewing and mobile game playing on preoperative anxiety and fear levels in children aged 7-12 years diagnosed with appendicitis and admitted to a pediatric surgery unit. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: a cartoon intervention group, a mobile game intervention group, or a control group receiving routine care.
Children in the intervention groups will receive a 10-minute distraction intervention (cartoon viewing or mobile game playing) prior to surgery, while the control group will receive standard clinical care without any additional intervention. Anxiety and fear levels will be assessed before and after the intervention using validated measurement tools.
This study is expected to provide evidence-based data on the effectiveness of simple, low-cost, and easily applicable non-pharmacological interventions in reducing preoperative anxiety and fear in children. The findings may contribute to the development of atraumatic care practices and improve pediatric surgical care outcomes.
419 studies on the registry are indexed under Appendicitis; 67 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 69 is below the median of 111 across 252 interventional studies indexed under Appendicitis.
Browse Appendicitis studies →Ankara City Hospital Bilkent is the lead sponsor of 443 studies on the registry; 111 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Participants in this group will receive standard hospital care and routine preoperative preparation without any additional digital distraction interventions.
Participants in this group will be exposed to a cartoon-assisted distraction intervention designed to explain the surgical process and reduce anxiety before surgery.
Behavioral: Cartoon-Assisted Distraction (Şüko Ameliyat Oluyor)
Participants in this group will engage in age-appropriate mobile games on a tablet computer as a digital distraction intervention prior to their surgical procedure.
Behavioral: Mobile Game
Participants will watch the cartoon titled "Şüko is Having Surgery," which explains the surgical process in child-friendly language, on an iPad Mini 6 with headphones for 10 minutes.
Children will be asked to play a game of their choice for 10 minutes on a tablet from among games selected according to their age group and PEGI standards (Head Ball 2, Subway Surfers, and Magic Tiles 3).
Preoperative Anxiety Level
The Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (m-YPAS) will be used. This scale provides an observational assessment across five categories (activity, emotional expressivity, state of arousal, vocalization, and use of parents). Total scores range from 5 to 22, with higher scores indicating higher levels of anxiety.
Time frame: Baseline (upon admission to the pediatric surgery inpatient unit prior to the intervention) and post-intervention (immediately before transfer to the operating room).
Children's Fear Level
The Children's Fear Scale (CFS) will be used. This scale consists of five different facial expressions scored between 0 and 4. A score of 0 indicates "no anxiety/fear," whereas a score of 4 indicates "the highest level of fear."
Time frame: Baseline (upon admission to the pediatric surgery inpatient unit prior to the intervention) and post-intervention (immediately before transfer to the operating room).
Heart Rate
The participants' heart rate will be measured to evaluate physiological stability. The values will be recorded in beats per minute (bpm).
Time frame: Measured at two time points: baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention.
Blood Pressure
The participants' systolic and diastolic blood pressure values will be measured. The values will be recorded in millimeters of mercury (mmHg).
Time frame: Measured at two time points: baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention.
Oxygen Saturation
The participants' peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels will be monitored. The values will be recorded as a percentage (%).
Time frame: Measured at two time points: baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention.
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: No
Started Oct 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for May 2026, 7 months after the start.
Of 89 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Appendicitis, half reached primary completion within 18 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 36. This study's planned 7 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 91 studies reached it within 18 months; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 36.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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Ankara City Hospital Bilkent →