BMJ

'Clown therapy' boosts recovery rates in children with pneumonia

September 16, 2024

Pediatric patients who had a visit from a clown stayed in the hospital for an average of 43.5 hours, compared with 70 hours for the “non-clown” group. They also needed two days of IV antibiotic treatment compared with three days in the control group.

• Research presented at the 2024 European Respiratory Society Congress, reported in the Times, followed 51 children ages 2 and 18 who had been treated in the hospital for pneumonia.
• One group received standard care, while the other group received the same care and a 15-minute visit from a medical clown twice a day during the first 48 hours of their hospital stay.
• A BMJ review of 24 studies published in 2020 supports the findings—it found that the presence of hospital clowns can help alleviate symptoms such as anxiety, fatigue, and pain.

What if my patient has coulrophobia?

A phobia of clowns is rare. Previous research by the team at the Carmel Medical Centre showed that out of 1,160 children surveyed by doctors in one hospital, only 1.2% had a fear of clowns. But an Australian survey of 987 adults found that a much higher 53% reported a fear of clowns to some degree.

Source:

Gulland, A. (2024, September 12). BMJ 2024;386:q2004. Sixty seconds on . . . clown therapy. https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q2004