Postnatal Education Increases Pain Relief Use at Vaccinations

MONDAY, Oct. 22, 2018 (HealthDay News) — In-hospital postnatal education about infant pain management at vaccinations leads to more frequent use of pain relief interventions, according to a study published online Oct. 22 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association.

Anna Taddio, Ph.D., from the University of Toronto, and colleagues randomly assigned new mothers to one of three intervention groups (control [general immunization information], pain pamphlet [general immunization plus pain mitigation information], and pain pamphlet and pain video [general immunization plus pain mitigation information]) and three follow-up groups (2-, 4-, and 6-month infant vaccinations). During telephone surveys, mothers reported use of breastfeeding, sucrose, and topical anesthetics during infant vaccinations.

Based on follow-up data from 2,549 participants, the researchers found that utilization of any intervention (breastfeeding, sucrose, or topical anesthetics) was 53.2 percent for the control group, 61.4 percent for the pamphlet group, and 63 percent for the pamphlet and video group. Both pain education groups had higher utilization than the control group, but they had similar utilization to one another. Uptake differed by group at 2 and 4 months but not at 6 months.

“Hospital-based postnatal education increased parental use of pain interventions at infant vaccinations and can be added to existing education,” conclude the authors.

Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text