title: Brief report: Evaluation of an interactive intervention designed to reduce pediatric distress during radiation therapy procedures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of an interactive intervention in reducing distress related to radiation therapy (RT) among pediatric cancer participants as measured by occurrence of sedation, observed behavioral distress (OBD), and heart rate (HR).
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-nine children receiving RT simulation were assigned randomly to a STARBRIGHT Hospital Pals group (i.e., interactive intervention group; IG) or modified control group (MCG). The interactive intervention included filmed modeling, exposure to an interactive Barney character, and passive auditory distraction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children in the IG experienced significantly lower HR when compared with MCG participants. No differences were found in terms of sedation or OBD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The interactive intervention was effective at reducing RT-related distress (as measured by HR) and would be a useful tool in pediatric radiation oncology settings.
authors.affiliation: Division of Behavioral Medicine, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA. James.Klosky@stjude.org
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Klosky
authors.forename: Vida L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Tyc
authors.forename: Deo Kumar
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Mindy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kronenberg
authors.forename: Zorana J
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Booker
authors.forename: Alberto J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: de Armendi
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Merchant
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires