Summary

Background:

Blood pressure (BP) is routinely measured while triaging children presenting to the pediatric emergency department (PED).

Objectives:

To determine whether a medical clown shortens the time to acquire a BP measurement among children undergoing triage in the PED.

Methods:

The study comprised 133 children. Patients were assigned to one of two groups: with a medical clown or without a medical clown.

Results:

The presence of a medical clown led to a significantly shorter time to acquire a blood pressure measurement (60 ± 23 seconds vs. 81 ± 43.5 seconds, P < 0.001. Clowns had a significant effect on shortening total triage length among children of Jewish ethnicity compared to Arab ethnicity (113 ± 353.6 seconds vs. 154 ± 418 seconds, P = 0.012).

Conclusions:

Using medical clowns while measuring BP during triage when used in a culturally appropriate manner shortens time.