Influence of adapted environment on the anxiety of medically treated children with developmental disability.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the influence of a sensory adapted environment (SAE) on the behavior and arousal levels of children with developmental disability in comparison with typical children, during a stress-provoking medical situation.


METHODS
Sixteen children (6-11 years old) with developmental disability and 19 age-matched typical children participated in a cross-over trial measuring behavioral and psychophysiological variables, performed during a dental intervention.


RESULTS
Both groups performed better in the SAE compared with the regular environment (RE), by comparing: the mean duration of anxious behaviors in the SAE and RE (5.26 and 13.56 minutes; P <or= .001); the mean electrodermal activity for arousal levels, before commencement of treatment in the SAE and RE (784 and 349 Kohms; P= .002); and the mean electrodermal activity during treatment in the SAE and RE (830 and 588 Kohms; P= .001). A significant group by environment interaction was revealed, indicating that the difference in the 2 environments was greater in children with developmental disability than typical children in all 3 measures.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate the importance of environment in determining the comfort level of all children. The greater difference in the 2 environments observed in children with developmental disability suggests that this group benefits more from sensory adapted environments.
Shapiro
Michele
M
Issie Shapiro Educational Centre, Raanana, Israel. micheles@beitissie.org.il
Sgan-Cohen
Harold D
HD
Parush
Shula
S
Melmed
Raphael N
RN
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006272:Health Facility Environment; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008029:Lighting; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D009622:Noise; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric