Video-Based Education Reduces Distress in Pediatric MRI Patients
*This article originally appeared in the Spring 2018 issue of Columbia Nursing magazine.
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure can be so stressful for children that many require general anesthesia to complete testing. Yet an educational video could significantly increase relaxation as well as procedural understanding in some pediatric patients undergoing an MRI, according to research from Columbia Nursing and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
Co-authors Daniel Hogan, MSN, and Kari A. Mastro, PhD (both formerly of NewYork-Presbyterian), and Tina DiMartino, MS, of NewYork-Presbyterian, and Columbia Nursing’s Jianfang Liu, PhD, Elaine Larson, PhD, and Eileen Carter, PhD, conducted a randomized controlled trial in which 50 pediatric patients either watched a seven-minute video before their first MRI or received standard of care (verbal instructions from nurses and MRI technicians before and during the procedure). Eligible participants were 6 to 17 years old, English-speaking, and undergoing an MRI as an outpatient; a caregiver’s consent was required for participation in the trial. Before the MRI, participants completed a questionnaire in which they circled their level of relaxation on a scale of 0 to 10. After the procedure, they again rated their relaxation level, as well as their understanding of what they had been told about the MRI. In addition, an open-ended question asked patients to describe what they found most helpful about the MRI education they had received.
The researchers found statistically significant improvements in both relaxation and baseline procedural understanding scores among children age 13 to 17 who received the intervention compared to those who did not. A total of 26 patients, half from the control group and half from the intervention group, responded to the question regarding what they found most helpful; among the intervention group, nearly all reported that the video increased their awareness and understanding of the MRI process.
Although previous studies had found that multimodal psychological preparation programs (combining interventions such as demonstrations with mock MRIs, visual aids with photos and videos, and distraction/relaxation techniques) reduced distress among MRI patients, this study was the first to evaluate the impact of a video alone on children undergoing an MRI. “Educational videos offer a less expensive alternative to multimodal approaches,” the authors wrote. “Our study suggests that [this method] may be most effective among older, adolescent children.”
The study was conducted under the auspices of the LINK Project (Linking to Improve Nursing Care and Knowledge), which provides conceptual and logistical support from Columbia Nursing faculty to staff nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian who wish to conduct their own research projects.
The study appeared in the January 19, 2018, online edition of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.