The prevalence and evidence-based management of needle fear in adults with chronic disease: A scoping review

Little is known about the prevalence and best management of needle fear in adults with chronic disease, who may experience frequent and long-term exposure to needles for lifesaving therapies such as renal dialysis and cancer treatment. Identifying interventions that assist in management of needle fe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2021-06, Vol.16 (6), p.e0253048-e0253048
Main Authors: Duncanson, Emily, Le Leu, Richard K, Shanahan, Lisa, Macauley, Luke, Bennett, Paul N, Weichula, Rick, McDonald, Stephen, Burke, Anne L. J, Collins, Kathryn L, Chur-Hansen, Anna, Jesudason, Shilpanjali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Anxiety
Arthritis
Asthma
Back pain
Biology and Life Sciences
Cancer therapies
Cardiovascular diseases
Care and treatment
Case reports
Chemotherapy
Chronic diseases
Chronic illnesses
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Cross-sectional studies
Data analysis
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Disease
Editing
Evaluation
Fainting
Fear
Fear & phobias
Hemodialysis
Hospitals
Hypodermic needles
Literature reviews
Lung diseases
Medical treatment
Medicine
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mental disorders
Methodology
Obstructive lung disease
Pediatrics
Prevalence studies (Epidemiology)
Psychological aspects
Psychology
Questionnaires
Renal failure
Social Sciences
Transplantation
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Summary:Little is known about the prevalence and best management of needle fear in adults with chronic disease, who may experience frequent and long-term exposure to needles for lifesaving therapies such as renal dialysis and cancer treatment. Identifying interventions that assist in management of needle fear and associated distress is essential to support these patients with repeated needle and cannula exposure. We followed the PRISMA methodology for scoping reviews and systematically searched PsychINFO, PubMed (MEDLINE), ProQuest, Embase and grey literature and reference lists between 1989 and October 2020 for articles related to needle discomfort, distress, anxiety, fear or phobia. The following chronic diseases were included: arthritis, asthma, chronic back pain, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and mental illness, or kidney failure. Literature concerning dentistry, vaccination, intravenous drug users and paediatric populations were excluded. We identified 32 papers reporting prevalence (n = 24), management (n = 5) or both (n = 3). Needle fear prevalence varied in disease cohorts: 17-52% (cancer), 25-47% (chronic kidney disease) and 0.2-80% (diabetes). Assessment methods varied across studies. Management strategies had poor evidence-base, but included needle-specific education, decorated devices, cognitive-behavioural stress management techniques, distraction, and changing the therapy environment or modality. Although needle fear is common there is a paucity of evidence regarding interventions to address it among adults living with chronic disease. This scoping review has highlighted the need for improved identification of needle fear in adults and development of interventions are required for these cohorts.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0253048