Context: Fractures are traumatic events, with psychological effects that can have a negative impact on children hospitalized with fractures. They can seriously affect children's physical rehabilitation and quality of life and even produce psychological disorders The OH card is a metaphorical card that allows access to an individual's inner world and can have a positive effect in psychotherapy.
Objective: The study intended to investigate the use of OH Cards during psychological interventions with children with fractures and to provide a methodological reference for the use of OH Cards in therapy.
Design: The research team performed a randomized controlled study.
Setting: The study took place in the Department of Trauma Surgery at Children's Hospital of Hebei Province in Shijiazhuang, China.
Participants: Participants were 74 children with fractures who had been admitted to the hospital between September 2020 and November 2021.
Intervention: The research team randomly divided participants into two groups using a random number table: (1) 37 in the intervention group, who received a conventional nursing intervention and also an OH-card intervention, and (2) 37 in the control group, who received conventional nursing interventions only.
Outcome measures: At baseline and postintervention, the research team: (1) measured the participants' posttraumatic growth scores, using the children's version of the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI); (2) assessed their coping styles, using the Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire (MCMQ); (3) determined the existence of any stress disorders, using the Child Stress Disorder Checklist (CSDC); (4) evaluated their mental statuses using the Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRSC) and the Screen for Child Anxiety-related Emotional Disorders (SCARED); and (5) measured participants' Fracture Knowledge Questionnaire scores.
Results: At baseline, no significant differences existed between the groups for any outcome measure at baseline. Postintervention, the intervention group's scores: (1) on the PTGI, were significantly higher for mental change, appreciate life, individual force, new possibilities and personal relation than those of the control group; (2) on the MCMQ, were significantly higher for facing and significantly lower for avoidance and yield than those of the control group; (3) on the CSDC, were significantly lower for trauma incidents and acute response than the control group did; (4) on the DSRSC were significantly lower and on SCARED were significantly higher than those of the control group; and (5) on the Fracture Knowledge Questionnaire were significantly higher than those of the control group.
Conclusions: OH Cards can increase the posttraumatic growth scores of children with fractures, improve their coping styles, reduce stress disorders, decrease depression and improve their psychological state, increase their knowledge about fractures, and promote their recovery.