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After 24 hours of life, a blood sample was taken from the hands of all infants (venipuncture) as part of the routine newborn screening test. The babies who had been poked repeatedly with the heel lances had an increased pain response (facial grimacing, crying) compared with the infants who had not been exposed to the repeated painful procedures. They demonstrated behaviours of pain even before they were actually poked for the blood collection, when the nurse wiped their hand with alcohol in preparation for the venipuncture. This response suggests that they learned to anticipate pain. They also experienced a bigger response to the venipuncture itself.

Dr. Taddio collaborated on this study with Dr. Vibhuti Shah, neonatologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Cheryl Gilbert-MacLeod, psychologist at IWK Health Centre, and Dr. Joel Katz, senior scientist in the Department of Anaesthesia at Toronto General Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, and holder of a Canada Research Chair in Health Psychology, York University. The infants in the study were at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Women's College Campus, in Toronto. This research was supported by The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through an Investigator Award to Dr. Katz.

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Contact: Laura Greer
laura.greer@sickkids.ca
416-813-5046
University of Toronto
20-Aug-2002