Cortisol Measurement During Intravenous Access With a Medical Clown

Level of Cortisol in Stress Response During Intravenous Access in the Pediatric Emergency Department With a Medical Clown: a Randomized Prospective Pilot Study

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02168998

Enrollment

Registered

2014-06-20

Start date

2014-08-31

Completion date

2016-04-30

Last updated

2018-07-26

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Stress, Physiological

Keywords

Medical clown, Pediatric emergency medicine

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the presence of a medical clown in a pediatric emergency department procedure room would reduce children's anxiety. The investigators hypothesize that this positive influence will be expressed as lower levels of the stress hormone (Cortisol) in the blood.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALClown

Comparison of routine venipuncture with a distraction technique by a medical clown

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

1 Years to 10 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Patients needing venous blood sampling or insertion of an intravenous canula * Normal development according to parents

Exclusion criteria

* Critically ill children (e.g. shock, respiratory distress or failure) * Children whose blood work or intravenous canula must be obtained rapidly for therapeutic reasons (e.g. antibiotic administration in a patient with severe bacterial infections) * Known adrenal or pituitary disease * Children who have received glucocorticoids during the preceeding six weeks

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Blood Cortisol level	During intravenous cannulation or blood sampling

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Vital signs (heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure)	During intravenous cannulation or blood sampling

Countries

Israel

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026