The effect of using musical mobiles on reducing pain in infants during vaccination

BACKGROUND: Distraction during painful interventions may reduce pain perception, but results in the literature are inconsistent. The aim of the study was to test the effectiveness of a musical mobile as a distraction tool on pain reduction in infants during a vaccine injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study based on a quasi-experimental model involving a test group and a control group was performed on 120 healthy infants, who were presented to the primary healthcare center for their first DaPT-IPV-Hib combined vaccination. The study was conducted in a room furnished with or without a musical mobile fixed to the head of the examination table, suspended at a distance of 20 – 25 cm from the infant's face. A question form was used to determine the infants’ characteristics, and the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) Pain Scale was used to assess their levels of pain. Data were collected between January 1 and May 15, 2008. RESULTS: The pain scores of the infants in the test group (during the procedure 5.13 ± 2.11 and after the procedure 1.26 ± 2.01) were lower than the scores of the infants in the control group (during the procedure 6.65 ± 2.69 and after the procedure 3.61 ± 2.27). The crying duration was also shorter among infants in the test group than among infants in the control group (23.53 ± 18.38 vs. 30.88 ± 22.78 seconds) during the vaccination injection. CONCLUSIONS: A lower pain score and shorter crying duration in response to vaccination in a room furnished with a musical mobile indicates that distracting attention via a musical mobile is a practical way to reduce pain during routine medical interventions in infants.