A Comparison of the Effects of Acupressure and Music on Venipuncture Pain Intensity in Children: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Abstract

Pain from injections is common in children of all ages, and more than 90% of hospitalized children experience invasive and painful procedures such as venipuncture. In light of the complications associated with pain relief medications, nonpharmacological and complementary medicine approaches have gained attention. This study aims to compare the effects of acupressure and music on venipuncture pain intensity in children. This randomized controlled clinical trial involved 180 children aged 3–6 years who sought treatment at the Children’s Medical Center Hospital Emergency Department at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The children were randomly assigned to one of three groups: acupressure, music, or control. The interventions were given within 5 minutes, starting 3 minutes before the venipuncture and continuing until completion. The interventions included playing music through headphones and applying acupressure to the Hugo point. Venipuncture was carried out under identical conditions using an Angiocath 24G needle. Pain intensity was assessed using the Oucher scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS 24, employing the Kruskal–Wallis, chi-square, and Bonferroni pairwise comparison tests, with a significance level of 0.05. The mean pain intensity was 3.32 ± 1.44 in the music group, 4.82 ± 1.51 in the acupressure group, and 8.32 ± 1.10 in the control group. Pain intensity significantly differed among the three groups $\left(p<0.001\right)$. Specifically, pain intensity was lower in the music group compared to both the acupressure $\left(p<0.001\right)$ and control $\left(p<0.001\right)$ groups. Furthermore, pain intensity was lower in the acupressure group than in the control group $\left(p<0.001\right)$. Based on the results, music and acupressure methods effectively reduce pain intensity during venipuncture in children. Considering that music demonstrated a more pronounced effect in alleviating venipuncture pain than acupressure, the recommendation is to utilize music as a method of pain management during venipuncture in children. Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, Trial No. IRCT20120109008665N15, was registered on 6 December 2021.