Interactive videos help prepare children for MRI scans

Using an interactive animated video to improve children’s cooperativeness during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is as good as using both regular and interactive videos, according to a Singapore study.

“[T]he interactive video is as efficacious as showing two videos in reducing the proportion of children needing repeated MRI sequences and increasing the proportion of children who had confidence in staying still for more than 30 min during an MRI scan,” the researchers said.

Some 558 children aged 3‒20 years scheduled for elective MRI scan from June 2017 to March 2019 were included in this Institutional Review Board-approved prospective, randomized, noninferiority trial. Participants were randomly assigned to either the interactive only group (n=277) or the combined (regular and interactive) videos group (n=281). Children watched the videos before their scan.

The researchers assessed repeated MRI sequences, general anaesthesia (GA) requirement, and improvement in confidence of staying still for at least 30 min.

Of the children in the interactive group, 86 (31.0 percent) had repeated MRI sequences, two (0.7 percent) required GA, and the proportion of those who had confidence in staying still for more than 30 min rose by 22.1 percent after watching the video. [Singapore Med J 2024;65:9-15]

In the combined videos group, 102 children (36.3 percent) had repeated MRI sequences, six (2.1 percent) required GA, while the proportion of those who had confidence in staying still for at least half an hour increased by 23.2 percent after the video.

The findings did not differ significantly between the two groups.

“In our study, fewer children had prior MRI experience and needed contrast as compared to the study by Ong [and colleagues],” the researchers said. [Clin Radiol 2018;73:909.e15-24]

“The results of this randomized, noninferiority trial revealed that the interactive animated video was overall as efficacious as showing two videos, with both groups demonstrating comparable repeated MRI sequences and GA proportions, and overall increase in confidence level in staying still for at least 30 min,” they added.

Preparation

It is important to perform preprocedural preparations, such as using interactive animated educational videos, to orient the patient regarding the things that would happen during MRI. This would also provide opportunities to experience what they would potentially feel during the procedure, the researchers said.

Such preparation gives children the chance to rehearse the process of going through a medical procedure and allows them to cope with it, they added.

Although any experience a child may have during the procedure can be rehearsed, several important points must be covered. These include (a) duration of test, (b) location of test, (c) sequence of events, (d) sources of discomfort, (e) sensations that may be experienced, and (f) how the child may feel when the procedure is done. [Contemp Pediatr 1990;3:141-162]

“It is, however, important to note that no single intervention alone is enough to help improve children’s cooperativeness,” the researchers said. “Parental involvement, preprocedural interventions, and the use of distractions during the scan can all help to increase children’s ability to cope with the procedure and increase the level of satisfaction and confidence in children and their parents.”