Immunisation pain in infants : a Jordanian study

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health.NO FULL TEXT AVAILABLE. Access is restricted indefinitely. The hardcopy may be available for consultation at the UTS Library.NO FULL TEXT AVAILABLE. Access is restricted indefinitely. ----- Infant immunisation is the most commonly performed health-related procedure in Jordan and other developed countries. Pain associated with immunisation, and other pain exposures, may be harmful because we do not know what painful experiences the infant has already had and whether this pain might contribute to a cumulative pain experience. Although healthy infants undergoing immunisation often do so with minimal pain relief, immunisation pain can be managed using non-pharmacological interventions, such as oral sweet solutions. The primary focus of this research was to establish the effectiveness of a particular sweet solution, glucose, given orally, in reducing infant immunisation pain. This was achieved through a double-blind, randomised controlled trial conducted in two immunisation clinics in Irbid, Jordan. Recruitment of infants started on 26th May 2007 and ended on 14th July 2007. The participants were 120 healthy infants attending the immunisation clinics to receive their 2-month immunisation injections. Sixty infants were randomised to receive, 2mls of oral glucose solution immediately prior to their immunisation. Their outcomes were compared with 60 infants randomised to the control group who received 2mls of oral sterile water. The procedure was videotaped in order to assess primary and secondary outcomes. The primary outcome measure was pain, as assessed by the Modified Behavioural Pain Scale (MBPS), which included the coding of three behavioural dimensions from the videotape. Secondary outcome measures included full-lung crying and crying time, which were measured during immunisation and up to two minutes after injections. Comparison of demographic characteristics and prior painful procedures showed no significant differences between the two groups of infants. Compared to the control group, infants in the intervention group experienced statistically and clinically significant reduction in behavioural pain responses supported by the MBPS after immunisation (Median (IQR) 4 (1) vs. 6 (3) p