Reducing children's pain-distress associated with injections using cold: a pilot study

Abstract

This study used an experimental design to test the question, "Does ice reduce the pain-distress children experience with injections?" One half of the 38 preschool children had ice applied to the preimmunization site for 30 seconds. The remaining children received the injection without the extra intervention. Measures included the Global Mood Scale, pulse rate, Oucher scale, and Faces scale. The results failed to show that ice reduces children's pain-distress with injections. Reasons for the failure are discussed, with comments on the various measures and suggestions for further study in this area of child nursing care.