The effect of audio distraction technique on the intensity of pain caused by the insertion of dialysis needles in hemodialysis elderly patients

  Elderly patients undergoing hemodialysis experience anxiety due to the pain of the insertion of dialysis needles, which might lead to complications for them in the long term. It is therefore essential to control their pain through a simple, safe method. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of audio distraction technique on pain during arteriovenous fistula cannulation in hemodialysis elderly patients. The present study was a quasi-experimental one, carried out on 70 elderly patients undergoing hemodialysis with arteriovenous fistula at Ghiasi Hospital, during 2017. The elderly patients were selected by convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into two control (n = 35) and experimental (n = 35) groups. The audio distraction technique was designed to reduce pain, and was carried out during three sessions. The control group received routine care. Additionally, the data collection tools were the questionnaire, the demographics, and the Numeric Rating Scale Brief. The intensity of pain was measured in all the elderly patients in three different states during the insertion of arterial needles for hemodialysis. For analyzing the data, U MannWhitney, chi-squared and independent t-tests were performed using SPSS version 21 The findings showed that a significant difference between the patients’ intensity of pain in the three different states. In first session the mean ± SD of pain intensity was 5.50 ± 0.50 in the experimental group, 6.70±0.0256 in the control group (P < 0.001), in second session the mean ± SD of pain intensity was 545 ± 0.50 in the experimental group, 6.42±0.054 in the control group (P < 0.001), in third session the mean ± SD of pain intensity was 5. 45 ± 0.50 in the experimental group, 6. 37±0.50 in the control group (P < 0.001). Considering the result of this study, positive effects of audio distraction technique on pain of the insertion of arteriovenous fistula in elderly patients undergoing hemodialysis were observed; it can be suggested that audio distraction technique is probably effective on reduction of pain during the insertion of dialysis needles in hemodialysis elderly patients and is recommended as a non-pharmacological intervention. Therefore, this method, as a no pharmacological intervention, is recommended to be applied by clinical nurses