title: Unstructured play for anxiety in pediatric inpatient care.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of unstructured play activities on the anxiety levels of hospitalized children.
  
  
  
  A nonequivalent control group pretest posttest design was employed for this study. The sample included children (N = 165) ages 4-7 years admitted to a large pediatric referral center in the United Arab Emirates. The control group (n = 84) received usual care, while the experimental group (n = 81) engaged in age-appropriate unstructured play activities using disposable games and toys. Parents and siblings, if present, were encouraged to participate. Research assistants conducted the play activities twice a day, with 30-min morning and evening sessions. Anxiety was measured at baseline and at the end of days 2 and 3 with a translated form of the Short-State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children.
  
  
  
  Anxiety scores in both groups were similar at baseline and decreased significantly over the 3 days. Compared with the control group, anxiety scores in the intervention group were significantly lower on day 2 (12.7 ± 2.3 vs. 10.7 ± 2.5, p = .003) and day 3 (10.6 ± 2.2 vs. 9.47 ± 2.4, p < .001). The greatest decrease occurred in the percentage of children in the experimental group with medium-level anxiety scores: baseline (n = 61, 75%), day 2 (n = 24, 30%), and day 3 (n = 0, 0%).
  
  
  
  This simple, low-cost play intervention implemented by nurses resulted in statistically and clinically significant decreases in the anxiety levels of children in an acute inpatient setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.|Research Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (RIMHS), University of Sharjah, Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.|School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt University, Orange Campus, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Nabeel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Al-Yateem
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt University, Orange Campus, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachel C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Rossiter
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D010989:Play Therapy; D010988:Play and Playthings
keywords: acute care; children; experimental; hospital; pediatric; play; quantitative