December 09, 2004

Videogames Good for Kids in the Hospital

Researchers say letting kids play Gameboy before they go into surgery is a great way for them to relax instead of holding mother's hand or tranquilizers. Moreover the games help reduce anxiety as kids become so into their videogame playing they forget where they are and or what they are about to go through.

Patel studied 4- to 12-year-olds in three groups of 26 children each. All had parents with them in the operating room until they were anesthetized. One group also got a tranquilizer, and the third group played with a Game Boy. On average, the Game Boy group showed no increase in anxiety before surgery. But on a standard, 100-point scale for measuring preoperative anxiety, the tranquilizer group jumped 7.5 points and the parents-only group 17.5 points.