Effectiveness of Intellectual Memory Recall and Multifaceted Distraction Techniques in Reducing Anxiety among Children during Radiovisiography: A Randomised Clinical Trial

Abstract

Introduction: Dental anxiety is anticipatory in nature, and the manifestation of the anxiety is due to uncertainty about a future threat and the inability to mitigate or avoid it. Distraction with a multisensory approach aids in better managing the anxious child. Aim: To compare the efficiency of two different play techniques, namely Intellectual Memory Recall (IMR) game and Multifaceted Distraction (MFD) game, in reducing procedural anxiety during Radiovisiography (RVG) among 4 to 10-year-old children. Materials and Methods: It was a randomised clinical study conducted in the Department of Paedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, GITAM Dental College and Hospital, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India from July 2023 to September 2023 with a sample size of 90 children selected based on baseline anxiety using the Modified Faces version of the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (MCDASf). The children were randomly allocated into three groups: Group IMR (n=30), Group MFD technique (n=30), and the control group-Tell Show Do (TSD) (n=30). The pre- and postprocedural anxiety of the children was measured using the RMS Pictorial Scale. The obtained readings were tabulated, and anxiety variation was statistically analysed using the student t-test (intragroup comparison) and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) (intergroup comparison). The frequency of anxiety reduction among children was analysed using the Chi-square test. Results: Total 90 chidren {males-38(42.22%) and females-52(57.78%)} with a mean age of 7.09±1.68 years were found eligible and participated in the study. The Multifaceted Distraction (MFD) Technique was the most effective and significantly reduced anxiety in 96.67% of children (n=29), followed by IMR (n=27; 86.67%), and TSD (56.67%). Conclusion: Both the MFD and IMR techniques have been found to be efficient in reducing procedural anxiety compared to the TSD technique. These techniques are cost-effective and easily understood by all children, making them potential alternatives to conventional behavioural guidance methods.

Keywords

• child behaviour
• distraction game
• fear reduction
• psychological intervention