ReviewThe Clinical journal of pain2019
Socially Assistive Robots for Helping Pediatric Distress and Pain: A Review of Current Evidence and Recommendations for Future Research and Practice.
Review in The Clinical journal of pain, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Social Robots in Relieving Children's and Adolescents' Anxiety, Pain, Fear and Stress in Perioperative Nursing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Pooled it
- The efficacy of socially assistive robots in improving children's pain and negative affectivity during needle-based invasive treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2024Pooled it
- Using the Social Robot NAO for Emotional Support to Children at a Pediatric Emergency Department: Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Socially-Assistive Robots Using Empathy to Reduce Pain and Distress during Peripheral IV Placement in Children.Pain research & management · 2020Trial
- Article
- Pediatrics 4.0: the Transformative Impacts of the Latest Industrial Revolution on Pediatrics.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of Socially Assistive Robots in Promoting Positive Emotional Responses and Alleviating Postoperative Pain Among Children: Quantitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Artificial Intelligence in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A Narrative Review of Recent Clinical Applications and Ethical Considerations.Current psychiatry reports · 2026Review
- Beyond the Stethoscope: Robotic Empathy in Pediatric Cardiology. The Emerging Role of Social Robots. A Pilot Study.Pediatric cardiology · 2026Article
- Use of a humanoid robot to reduce distress in autistic children undergoing paediatric cardiology visits: a pilot study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- Preliminary usability evaluation of a teleoperated humanoid robot for pediatric waiting-room observation: clinical and technical professionals' perspectives.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2026Article
- Evaluating Social Assistive Robots in Clinical Nursing Care: Mixed Method Pilot Study on Health Care Workers' Perceptions and Adoption.JMIR nursing · 2025Article
- Tactile Interaction with Socially Assistive Robots for Children with Physical Disabilities.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Exploring the Impact of Socially Assistive Robots in Rehabilitation Scenarios.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Current Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions of Artificial Intelligence in Emergency Medicine: A Narrative Review.Archives of academic emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Bringing a socially assistive robot to the paediatric emergency department: design, development, and usability testing.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2025Article
- Artificial Intelligence in Pediatric Emergency Medicine: Applications, Challenges, and Future Perspectives.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Do you wanna dance? Tales of trust and driving trust factors in robot medication counseling in the pharmacy context.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2024Article
- Social robotics for children: an investigation of manufacturers' claims.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2023Article
- Exploring the needs of children and caregivers to inform design of an artificial intelligence-enhanced social robot in the pediatric emergency department.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesInteracting with socially assistive robots (SAR) has been shown to influence human behaviors and emotions. This study sought to review the literature on SAR intervention for reducing pediatric distress and pain in medical settings.
methodsDatabases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, Web of Science, Engineering Village, Scopus, Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore) were searched from database inception to January 2018 with the aid of a medical librarian. Included studies examined any SAR intervention for reducing pain or improving emotional well-being in children related to physical or psychiatric care, with outcomes assessed by some quantitative measure. Study quality was assessed using the modified Downs and Black checklist (max. score, 28). The review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42016043018).
resultsEight studies met the eligibility criteria and represented 206 children. Of the 2 studies using Wong-Baker's FACES scale, 1 study claimed to be effective at reducing pain (Cohen d=0.49 to 0.62), while the other appeared effective only when parents and child interacted with SAR together. Distress was evaluated using validated measures in 4 studies, 3 of which showed reduction in distress while one showed no difference. Satisfaction surveys from 4 studies showed that children were interested in using SAR again. Quality scores ranged from 8 to 26.
conclusionsThere is limited evidence suggesting that SAR interventions may reduce distress and no clear evidence showing reduction in pain for children in medical settings. Engineers are conducting interventions using SAR in pediatric populations. Health care providers should be engaged in technology research related to children to facilitate testing and improve the effectiveness of these systems.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.