title: Physiological responses of premature infants to a painful stimulus.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to describe the physiological responses of premature infants to an acute tissue-damaging stimulus and to determine how severity of illness and behavioral state influenced these responses. The physiological responses (heart rate, oxygen saturation, and intracranial pressure) of a convenience sample of 124 premature infants between 32 and 34 weeks gestational age were described during four phases of a routine heel stick procedure. Analysis of the results showed a significant multivariate main effect of phase on the group of physiological responses. Behavioral state was found to influence the physiological responses, but severity of illness did not.
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Johnston
mesh_terms: D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006339:Heart Rate; D006365:Heel; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D007427:Intracranial Pressure; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010146:Pain / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen