Reduction of pain during immunization by administration of oral glucose

Running head: Reduction of pain during immunization
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Reduction of pain during immunization by administration of oral glucose
Name
Institutional affiliation

Reduction of pain during immunization 2
1. Background of the study
a. The unpleasant nature of the pain associated with childhood immunization is the main
concern in the study. Pain causes distress, anxiety and fear among children and their
parents during immunization. These negatively affect adherence to immunization
schedules making them skip some vaccinations. In addition, the fear and anxiety
negatively impact the health-seeking behaviour in children both when they are still young
and when they grow up into adults (McNair, (2013). Needle phobia is just one of the
results of the pain associated with the immunization procedures (McMurty et al. 2015).
b. Majority of the studies carried out to address the same issue did not show any Significant
differences when Oral sucrose solution was used before immunization procedures and
when it was not used (Dilli, 2009). The results obtained from these studies pointed out a
reduction in crying time of infants under oral sucrose. The results were however not
deemed significant owing to the lower concentrations of the sucrose solutions used and
the small sample sizes used.
c. The study is important and significant in establishing a solution to the pain that
accompanies immunization. The study seeks a lasting solution that will see improved
adherence to immunization schedules by infants with the help of their parents, and
improve their health seeking behaviour.
2. Overview of the research design
a. The main aim of the research was to ascertain whether administering 2 ml of a 25%
sucrose or a 75% sucrose solution reduces the crying time of infants and an
established pain scale. The study was to establish whether an oral sucrose solution has

Reduction of pain during immunization 3
analgesic properties to infants and if there are, what concentration is required for
optimal effect.
b. A semi-experimental research design was employed in this study. Also called a field
experiment, it's a design that examines an intervention (administration of oral sucrose
solutions in this case) in a real-life situation as opposed to laboratory experiments.
c. The main characteristics of a semi-experimental research design (field experiment)
include:
i. It examines interventions in the natural world like administration
of oral sucrose to infants to observe its effect on pain.
ii. Subjects or participants are generally randomized just like in
laboratory experiments.
iii. The design offers a higher external validity because results are
obtained from the real world.
iv. The design also suffers a likelihood of contamination since it’s
more difficult to control variables with precision in the field.
d. The design chosen has the ability to yield results from administration of the oral
sucrose solutions to infants, this being a field experiment. It’s also best suited in
comparing the results obtained from participants under different concentrations of
sucrose owing to its ability to randomize the participants. It enabled the researchers to
analyze the analgesic properties of sucrose under different concentrations and when it
was not used.
3. Sampling
a. The infants who participated in the study had the following characteristics: