The effect of Kangaroo Care on behavioral responses to pain of an intramuscular injection in neonates.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to assess the efficacy of Kangaroo Care (KC) on behavioral responses of term neonates to the pain of an intramuscular injection.


METHODS
One hundred healthy term neonates were enrolled and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. In the intervention group, the neonate was held in KC for 10 min before the injection and remained in KC for the duration of the procedure. The primary outcome measure was the cumulative Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) score immediately after injection.


RESULTS
The cumulative NIPS score immediately after injection in the intervention group was significantly lower (p<.001) than in the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
KC given before injection seems to effectively decrease pain and should be considered for minor invasive procedures in neonates.
Kashaninia
Zahra
Z
Nursing Department, University of Welfare & Rehabilitation, Tehran, Iran.
Sajedi
Firoozeh
F
Rahgozar
Mehdi
M
Noghabi
Fariba Asadi
FA
D001143:Arousal; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D003448:Crying; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000379:methods; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010092:Oximetry; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D014743:Videotape Recording