Beautyandthemask Vicky MacBean

Working with young children is, as most people know, a challenge; when it comes to unpleasant physiological testing the challenge steps up a gear. In this study we were measuring breathing muscle strength in healthy children under the age of six, which requires participants to wear a tight face mask and make breathing efforts against a closed valve for about thirty seconds. This effectively feels like a transient suffocation so we have to work hard to put children at ease during the testing. Peter came to the testing session accompanied by his Belle doll, so Belle had plenty of practice with the mask alongside Peter's testing to reassure him that the measurements were no cause for concern. The difference this makes is huge. It may mean that ten minutes of data acquisition requires half an hour or more in the lab, but it turns the whole experience into a positive one.

Despite the unpleasantness of the manoeuvres most children leave our lab happy, keen to come back for more!