Background: Burns in children remain an important epidemiological problem. Caring for these particularly vulnerable groups requires a multidisciplinary approach to treating burns and reducing their painful impact on children. Aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of therapeutic hospital clown use on children's behavioral adherence during burn dressing changes. Setting: Assiut General Hospital out-patient burn clinic. Subjects and Method: A quasi-experimental (post-test) research design was used. The study applied one tool which included two parts: Part (I): Included children’s personal and clinical data. Part (II): Involved the child's behavioral observational form which involved 8 classifications such as crying, yelling, activity, mood, communication, interaction with the parents, sensitivity to the environment, and attitude to the nurse. Results: It was found that 76% and 88% of both study &control group had extremity burn with second degree in 68% and 76% respectively. The study results revealed good adherence to the change of burn dressing in the study group children than those in the control group with a statistically significant relation regarding all domains of the children’s adherence (P-Value <0.01). Conclusion: Applying therapeutic hospital clown to children in the study group had a better adherence to burn dressing change than those in the control group. Recommendation: Therapeutic clowning should be included in the hospitals policies and care plans as a basic intervention care for burned children.
Keywords: Burn Dressing, Behavioral Adherence, Children, Therapeutic Hospital Clown.