Effect of Touch on the Intensity and Duration of Venipuncture Pain in the School-age Children

Abstract

Background: Pain has physiological and psychological effects on a child's life and various body systems. Tactile stimulation affects the central nervous system and releases analgesic drugs resulting in the inhibition of pain. <br/>Aim: The main purpose of this study was effect of touch on the intensity and duration of pain during venipuncture in school-age children. <br/>Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 60 children of school age in the emergency department of Imam Reza (AS) hospital and doctor Sheikh Hospital in 2014. Children were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into two groups, touch and control group. Touch group received intervention for 5 minutes by palms movements and kicks on the site before and during venipuncture by researcher, and then venipuncture was immediately performed by a nurse colleague. The control group did not receive any intervention. FACES instruments were used to assess pain intensity. Pain was measured for 5 min by a chronometer. Data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Chi-square tests, Mann - Whitney and independent t-test using SPSS software version 11. <br/>Results: In this study, 65% were boys and 35% girls. The average age of children was 8.3±2.3 years. There was a significant difference between touch and control groups in pain of needle insertion into the skin within the first second (p<0.001). Independent t-tests showed that there was no significant difference between touch (242.0±67.7) and control (278.0±82.3) groups in duration of venipuncture pain (p=0.07). <br/>Conclusion: Touch is effective in reducing the intensity of pain during venipuncture in children. This is an easy and practical nursing intervention to reduce negative impact of pain on children.