A prospective survey of reactions to blood tests by children and adolescents

C. Fradet, P. J. McGrath, J. Kay, S. Adams, B. Luke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

176 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A sample of 171 children and adolescents aged 3-17 years requiring venepuncture for blood sampling were asked to report on their pain and anxiety and were observed immediately before and during blood drawing. Depending on the measures used, 36-64% of children from 3 to 6 years old experienced moderate to severe distress from blood drawing. Multiple regression analysis revealed that age and the parents' prediction of how upset the child would feel before the blood test was a significant predictor of the observed distress and the self-report of pain. Experience with previous needle procedures did not add significantly to the prediction of distress. Identification of children at high risk to respond poorly to painful medical procedures is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)53-60
Number of pages8
JournalPain
Volume40
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 1990
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authorsw ish to thank Lynn MilIer, Daisy Wong and the staff from the Blood Drawing Room. Ms. Fradet is supportedb y a Studentship from the Medical Research Council of Canada and Dr. McGrath was supported by a Career ScientistA ward of the Ontario Mi~st~ of Health.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

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