Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Nov;18(6):494-8.

A comparative study on vaccination pain in the methods of massage therapy and mothers' breast feeding during injection of infants referring to Navabsafavi Health Care Center in Isfahan

Mitra Savabi Esfahani  1 , Sanaz Sheykhi  2 , Zahra Abdeyazdan  1 , Mohamadreza Jodakee  3 , Khadijeh Boroumandfar  1
Affiliations

A comparative study on vaccination pain in the methods of massage therapy and mothers' breast feeding during injection of infants referring to Navabsafavi Health Care Center in Isfahan

Mitra Savabi Esfahani et al. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2013 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Vaccination is one of the most common painful procedures in infants. The irreversible consequences due to pain experiences in infants are enormous. Breast feeding and massage therapy methods are the non-drug methods of pain relief. Therefore, this research aimed to compare the vaccination-related pain in infants who underwent massage therapy or breast feeding during injection.

Materials and methods: This study is a randomized clinical trial. Ninety-six infants were allocated randomly and systematically to three groups (breast feeding, massage, and control groups). The study population comprised all infants, accompanied by their mothers, referring to one of the health centers in Isfahan for vaccination of hepatitis B and DPT at 6 months of age and for MMR at 12 months of age. Data gathering was done using questionnaire and checklist [neonatal infant pain scale (NIPS)]. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistical methods with SPSS software.

Results: Findings of the study showed that the three groups had no statistically significant difference in terms of demographic characteristics (P > 0/05). The mean pain scores in the breast feeding group, massage therapy, and control group were 3.4, 3.9, and 4.8, respectively (P < 0.05). Then the least significant difference (LSD) post hoc test was performed. Differences between the groups, i.e. massage therapy and breast feeding (P = 0.041), breast feeding group and control (P < 0.001), and massage therapy and control groups (P = 0.002) were statistically significant.

Conclusion: Considering the results of the study, it seems that breast feeding during vaccination has more analgesic effect than massage therapy. Therefore, it is suggested as a noninvasive, safe, and accessible method without any side effects for reducing vaccination-related pain.

Keywords: Breast feeding; Iran; massage therapy; pain; vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Nil.

References

    1. Dilli D, Kucuk IG, Dallar Y. Interventions to reduce pain during vaccination in infancy. J Pediatr. 2009;154:385–90. - PubMed
    1. Pickering LK, Baker CJ, Long SS, McMillan JA, editors. Red Book: 2006 Report of the committee on infectious diseases. 27th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2006. American Academy of Pediatrics. Active and passive immunization; pp. 1–9.
    1. Bilgen H, Ozek E, Cebeci D. Comparison of sucrose, expressed breast milk and breastfeeding on the neonatal response to heal prick. J Pain. 2001;2:301–5. - PubMed
    1. Larsson BA. Pain and pain relief during the neonatal period. Early pain experiences can result in negative late-effects. Lakartidningen. 2001;98:1656–62. - PubMed
    1. Ramponi DR. Reducing pain in pediatric minor emergency procedures. J Emerg Nurs. 2009;35:379–82. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources