Minimizing Ambulatory Setting Pediatric Healthcare-Induced Anxiety: A Case Review

Abstract

It is no longer a rare phenomenon for pediatric patients to experience moderate to high levels of emotional distress, including anxiety, during preventive care office visits with healthcare providers. This distress can be attributed to multiple factors, including being in an unfamiliar setting with unknown people, and unclear expectations. Further compounding the anguish, children are often aware of the potential for, or likelihood of, physical discomfort, or pain during the office visit. These combined variables often result in unwelcome behavioral demonstrations of protest to healthcare workers and the child’s caregivers. Some children may scream, cry, pinch, bite, hit, or even refuse to engage in the examination or procedure. When these behavioral protests impede necessary care, expedient interventions must be considered. The following case review aims to demonstrate that attuning to a child’s emotional needs and providing developmentally appropriate power and control during an outpatient office visit in a healthcare setting, can aid in offering emotional safety and reduce the potential for long-term psychological harm