Trial reportBMC health services research2020
Measuring patient experiences in a Children's hospital with a medical clowning intervention: a case-control study.
Trial report in BMC health services research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04312217 (Measuring Patient Experiences in a Children's Hospital With a Medical Clowning Intervention), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Measuring Patient Experiences in a Children's Hospital With a Medical Clowning Intervention: A Case-Control Study
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic literature review on initiatives to involve children and adolescents in evaluating their hospitalization experience.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Patient-reported experience measures for people living with dementia: A scoping review.Dementia (London, England) · 2024Article
- Perceptions and Expectations of Youth Regarding the Respect for Their Rights in the Hospital.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- A feasibility study of the use of medical clowns as hand-hygiene promoters in hospitals.PloS one · 2022Article
- Exploring the usefulness of medical clowns in elevating satisfaction and reducing aggressive tendencies in pediatric and adult hospital wards.BMC health services research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBecause the healthcare sector is shifting to a customer-oriented approach, it is important to understand experiences of children as users of healthcare services. So far, studies that measure the influence of medical clowning on patient experiences are scarce. This study aims to measure experiences of children and their parents during day-surgery in hospital setting.
methodsA case-control study was conducted in a large Finnish children's hospital. Seventy children aged 4-17 years coming for a minor operative procedure including pre-operative cannula insertion prior to surgery were included. Thirty-eight children were exposed to the medical clowning intervention and 32 children (the reference group) did not receive exposure to medical clowning. A novel digital survey tool was used to measure patient experiences before and after the insertion of a venous cannula needed for anaesthesia. The children were asked about their emotions, anxiety levels, the pain from the cannula insertion and the best and worst things about the hospital. The parents were asked about their emotions, expectations and the fluency of the procedure and the hospital day.
resultsBefore the procedure, 32% or 36% of the children in the intervention group and 44% or 28% of those in the reference group expressed positive or neutral emotions, respectively. After the procedure, 76% or 63% of children in the intervention group or reference group, respectively, expressed positive emotions. The intervention group rated the medical clowns as the best aspect of the hospital day. Both groups reported that the best aspects of the hospital day were related to the nurses and food and the worst were related to waiting and pain. Most commonly the parents felt uncertainty, anxiety or calmness before the procedure and relief afterwards. Their expectations towards the procedure related to its success and the certainty of the diagnosis.
conclusionsThe results show a trend towards more positive emotions in children with exposure to medical clowning. The digital survey tool was suitable for gathering information about the experiences of children and their parents. Information on emotions and expectations of children and parents during a procedure is useful when improving the quality of healthcare services.
trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials NCT04312217, date of registration 17.03.2020. Retrospectively registered.
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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.