A study of ′cough trick′ technique in reducing vaccination prick pain in adolescents

Background: The ′cough trick′ (CT) technique is used in reducing intramuscular prick (IMP) pain during vaccinations and also for brief painful procedures like subcutaneous injection, intravenous cannulation, and so forth. We present the utility study of this technique in male adolescents. Materials and Methods: A Randomized Crossover Volunteer Study of 50 early adolescent male children (age 11-13) receiving immunizations was performed. Participants were recruited from four outpatient pediatric clinics. The strategy required a single "warm-up" cough of moderate force, followed by a second cough that coincided with needle puncture. The principle outcome was self-reported pain. Results: Paired ′t′ test revealed that the procedure was effective at a statistically and clinically significant level for participants. Children found the procedure acceptable and effective. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the CT can be an effective strategy for the reduction of pain for male adolescent children undergoing routine immunizations. However, additional research is needed with a larger sample size with different age groups and also including girl children