ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2020
The Acceptability and Impact of the Xploro Digital Therapeutic Platform to Inform and Prepare Children for Planned Procedures in a Hospital: Before and After Evaluation Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence and Future Directions for Pediatric Health Care Chatbots: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Chatbot-Delivered Interventions for Improving Mental Health Among Young People: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Worldviews on evidence-based nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Mixed Reality in Clinical Settings for Pediatric Patients and Their Families: A Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Perioperative application of chatbots: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ health & care informatics · 2024Pooled it
- Conceptual Ambiguity Surrounding Gamification and Serious Games in Health Care: Literature Review and Development of Game-Based Intervention Reporting Guidelines (GAMING).Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Pooled it
- Exploring the feasibility of the my hospital passport app: Helping children identify and share coping preferences in medical procedures.PEC innovation · 2026Article
- Performance of 5 Large Language Models in Perioperative Consultation for Pediatric Hypospadias: Cross-Sectional Comparative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- AI in pediatric surgery: a narrative review.Translational pediatrics · 2026Review
- Preparing Children for Hearing Examination in a Playful Way-Co-Creation and Evaluation of an App.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Predictive Factors of Augmented Reality-Based Clinical Task Performance Among Novice Users: Cross-Sectional Quantitative Study.JMIR XR and spatial computing · 2026Article
- Exploring Health Educational Interventions for Children With Congenital Heart Disease: Scoping Review.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2025Review
- Acceptability of a Serious Game About Proton Radiotherapy Designed for Children Aged 5 to 14 Years and Its Potential Impact on Perceived Anxiety: Feasibility and Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.JMIR serious games · 2024Article
- Use of automated conversational agents in improving young population mental health: a scoping review.NPJ digital medicine · 2024Article
- Factors Influencing the Acceptability, Acceptance, and Adoption of Conversational Agents in Health Care: Integrative Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Review
- Evaluating Conversational Agents for Mental Health: Scoping Review of Outcomes and Outcome Measurement Instruments.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Pediatric patient engagement in clinical care, research and intervention development: a scoping review.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2023Article
- Augmented reality-The way forward in patient education for intracranial aneurysms? A qualitative exploration of views, expectations and preferences of patients suffering from an unruptured intracranial aneurysm regarding augmented reality in patient education.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Article
- How to use participatory design to develop an eHealth intervention to reduce preprocedural stress and anxiety among children visiting the hospital: The Hospital Hero app multi-study and pilot report.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
- Systematic review of the development and effectiveness of digital health information interventions, compared with usual care, in supporting patient preparation for paediatric hospital care, and the impact on their health outcomes.Frontiers in health services · 2023Review
- A Review of Converging Technologies in eHealth Pertaining to Artificial Intelligence.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is increasing interest in finding novel approaches to improve the preparation of children for hospital procedures such as surgery, x-rays, and blood tests. Well-prepared and informed children have better outcomes (less procedural anxiety and higher satisfaction). A digital therapeutic (DTx) platform (Xploro) was developed with children to provide health information through gamification, serious games, a chatbot, and an augmented reality avatar.
objectiveThis before and after evaluation study aims to assess the acceptability of the Xploro DTx and examine its impact on children and their parent's procedural knowledge, procedural anxiety, and reported experiences when attending a hospital for a planned procedure.
methodsWe used a mixed methods design with quantitative measures and qualitative data collected sequentially from a group of children who received standard hospital information (before group) and a group of children who received the DTx intervention (after group). Participants were children aged between 8 and 14 years and their parents who attended a hospital for a planned clinical procedure at a children's hospital in North West England. Children and their parents completed self-report measures (perceived knowledge, procedural anxiety, procedural satisfaction, and procedural involvement) at baseline, preprocedure, and postprocedure.
resultsA total of 80 children (n=40 standard care group and n=40 intervention group) and their parents participated in the study; the children were aged between 8 and 14 years (average 10.4, SD 2.27 years) and were attending a hospital for a range of procedures. The children in the intervention group reported significantly lower levels of procedural anxiety before the procedure than those in the standard group (two-tailed t
conclusionsThis study has shown that the DTx platform, Xploro, has a positive impact on children attending a hospital for a procedure by reducing levels of procedural anxiety. The children and parents in the intervention group described Xploro as improving their experiences and being easy and fun to use.
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Registered trials
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