Pain
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Multicenter Study
Determining behavioural and physiological responses to pain in infants at risk for neurological impairment.
Multiple researchers have validated indicators and measures of infant pain. However, infants at risk for neurologic impairment (NI) have been under studied. Therefore, whether their pain responses are similar to those of other infants is unknown. ⋯ A significant Phase effect for low/high frequency Heart Rate Variability (HRV) ratio (F(2,216)=4.97, p=0.008) was found with the greatest decrease in Cohort A. Significant Cohort by Phase interactions existed for low and high frequency HRV. All infants responded to the most painful phase of the heel lance; however, infants at moderate and highest risk for NI exhibited decreased responses in some indicators.