Effect of Information Education via a Comic Book on Anxiety of School–aged Children Undergoing a Cardiac Catheterization

Abstract

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the effect of information education via

a comic book on anxiety of school-aged children undergoing a cardiac catheterization. Thirty children aged

6-12 years who admitted in Songklanagarind Hospital were selected by a purposive sampling. Fourteen children were assigned to an experimental group and sixteen children were assigned to a control group. The experimental group received information using a comic book read by themselves or their mothers at least 1 time before undergoing a cardiac catheterization and the control group received a routine nursing care from nurses before undergoing a cardiac catheterization. The instruments for data collection consisted of 1) the Personal Data Record Form, and 2) The State Trait Anxiety Inventory Form X-1 consisted 20 items. The reliability tested of the second questionnaire was 0.89. Data were analyzed in terms of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The hypotheses were tested using a pair t-test and independence t-test. The results showed that the means of anxiety of children in the control and experimental groups before and after receiving information regarding cardiac catheterization (M=42.94, SD=10.31, M=44.06, SD=12.45, M=43.43, SD=6.90, M=44.71, SD=3.97 ) were not significantly different ( p < .05 ). The means of anxiety after receiving information when comparing between groups  were not significantly different ( p < .05 ). Although the information education  using

a comic book had no effect on anxiety in these children, nurses should find another way to provide information to them to reduce their anxiety.