Get That Butterfly Away From Me!

Researchers at the University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Center have just completed a study on how to reduce patient's anxiety levels about needles. They studied people's reactions to regular needles and IV's and then exposed the patients to the same needles and syringes covered with various decorations.

Fear of needles, or needle phobia, can impact the care a patient receives, the researchers said. Some children become hysterical at the sight of needles, while some adults will avoid the doctor's office altogether.

The researchers said the decorated needles can increase the quality of care when patients are less stressed.

Such decorations likely interfere with an established link between visual recognition of a perceived threat and the subsequent emotional response to that threat, the study suggested.

Needles, syringes and IV bags decorated with musical notes, flowers and smiley faces were highly favored by patients, the researchers said.

The researchers recruited 60 patients from outpatient clinics at the Health Sciences Center. Subjects randomly were exposed to eight designs of winged needles — such as one decorated as a butterfly — and six designs of syringes fitted with a needle.

When exposed to conventional syringes, 80 percent of the subjects experienced moderate to severe aversion, 63 percent suffered moderate to severe fear and 62 percent showed moderate to severe anxiety.

When exposed to the decorated syringes, the aversion in patients was reduced by 68 percent, fear by 53 percent and anxiety by 53 percent, the study found.

Researchers theorize that the decorations stimulate areas of the brain not normally associated with fear. Now, one should also ask what happens after someone has completed a hospital stay complete with frequent sticks by a butterfly-winged syringe. Will people come out of the hospital with butterfly phobia? (Which, as funny as it sounds, is actually a legitimate question).