The effect of animal assisted practice applied to hospitalised children on children's anxiety, fear, psychological and emotional well-being

Aim: The study was conducted to determine the effect of animal-assisted practice applied on anxiety, fear, psychological and emotional well-being of hospitalised children. Material and Method: The research was conducted as an experimental study with pre-test and post-test control group between November 2020-August 2021 in the pediatric clinic of a hospital affiliated to the Ministry of Health in the Eastern Anatolia region. The sample of the study consisted of 112 children (experimental group n=56, control group n=56) aged 8-10, who were treated in pediatric clinic. Animal-supported application was performed with children in the experimental group for 3 days. In collecting data; State Anxiety Scale for Children, Child Fear Scale, and Stirling Emotional and Psychological Well-being Scale for Children were used. The data were evaluated on a computer using averages, percent, t-test for independent groups, chi-square, one-way variance analysis for repetitive measurements test. Results: It was determined that the average age of the children was 8.98±0.805, 69.6% of them had been hospitalised before and 27.7% were diagnosed with urinary infection. It was found that there was no statistically significant difference between the descriptive characteristics of children in the experimental and control groups. The difference was found to be statistically significant in the comparison of the post-test mean scores of the State Anxiety Inventory for Children of the children in the experimental and control groups (p=0.018). It was found that the difference between the children's Fear Scale posttest averages of the children in the experimental and control groups was significant (p=0.001). It was seen that the difference between the experimental and control groups in the comparison of Stirling Emotional and Psychological Well-being Scale for Children posttest averages was significant (p=0.002). Conclusion: Animal-assisted practice was found to be effective in reducing the state anxiety and fear levels and increasing psychological and emotional well-being levels in children.