Can arts-based interventions reduce children’s peri-operative anxiety in paediatrics? A discussion of representative studies

This narrative literature review aims to provide a broad scope and objective analysis by identifying and summarizing published works surrounding the current research into how different forms of non-pharmaceutical and non-invasive arts-based methods can be used to reduce children’s peri-operative anxiety in paediatrics. While our search focuses on the peri-operative anxiety context, we build on wider research on the role of the arts in paediatrics and include representative studies from the last five to seven years. We highlight the most current findings in non-invasive interventions for hospitalized children, including primarily applied theatre performance in paediatrics followed by digital arts such as video games, virtual reality and music, to gain a better understanding of the current knowledge of how non-pharmaceutical and non-invasive arts-based methods can further be utilized in surgical procedures and treatments in paediatrics, how arts practitioners and hospital staff can better collaborate in such procedures and what further research is needed in relation to such methods for reducing peri-operative anxiety in children.