SynthesisJournal of clinical nursing2026
Effectiveness of Social Robots in Relieving Children's and Adolescents' Anxiety, Pain, Fear and Stress in Perioperative Nursing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of clinical nursing, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis 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
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- 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
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo assess how social robots impact anxiety, pain, fear and stress in children and adolescents during perioperative nursing.
designA systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies.
methodsFollowing Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, eligible studies included participants under 21 undergoing surgery or perioperative care, used social robot interventions with comparators, assessed anxiety, pain, fear and stress, and employed randomised or quasi-experimental designs. Two independent reviewers screened and extracted data. DATA SOURCES: A systematic search was conducted in April 2024 and updated twice (December 2024, October 2025) across CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, Medic, PsycArticles, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and grey literature sources (Google Scholar, Mednar).
resultsSeven studies (663 participants) showed heterogeneity in social robotic interventions. A meta-analysis of two studies (302 participants) found a significant reduction in children's and adolescents' post-operative anxiety, whereas a narrative synthesis identified three studies reporting reduced perioperative anxiety. However, the interventions had little or no effect on perioperative pain, fear or stress.
conclusionThis review suggests that social robotic interventions may reduce perioperative anxiety in children and adolescents, potentially serving as non-pharmacological distraction tools in paediatric care. Evidence for their effects on pain, fear and stress is limited, highlighting the need for further research to identify effective interventions and clarify their role in perioperative nursing. IMPACT: This review highlights social robotic interventions as promising non-pharmacological tools for reducing perioperative anxiety in children and adolescents. REPORTING
methodPreferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and Synthesis Without Meta-Analysis reporting guidelines. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.
trial registrationThis review was registered in PROSPERO, the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024549796).
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.