Effect of Massage on Pain During Vitamin K Injection in Neonates

Abstract

The purpose of quasi-experimental research was to compare the mean pain scores between infants who  received leg massage during vitamin K injection and those who did not. Fullterm infants had weight between 2,500 grams and 4,000 grams, Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes greater than or equal to eight, and admitted in a nursery of Songklanagarind Hospital. Fifty neonates were divided evenly between the two groups through purposive sampling. The instruments consisted of a leg massage manual and the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS). The NIPS was validated by three experts (CVI = 1.0) and tested for the inter - rater reliability equals to .88. Frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and the independent t-test were used to analyze the data.

The results revealed that the mean pain score of infants in the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (M = 5.84, S.D. = 1.28; M = 6.64, S.D. = 1.11; t = -2.357, p < 0.05). Thus, the leg massage could reduce pain for infants receiving vitamin K injection.