Method

A cross-sectional descriptive-correlational study, whose population consisted of newborns hospitalized at the Neonatology Unit of the Herminda Martin Clinical Hospital of Chillán, Chile, in the period between June and September, 2015. In order to assess pain, Susan Givens Bell Assessment Scale was applied, as well as a semi-structured Questionnaire of sociodemographic variables.

Results

The sample consisted of 52 newborns in an equal percentage of men and women. The greatest number of procedures was the nasogastric tube insetion, venipuncture and arterial puncture, being the latter the cause of moderate pain in newborns. The level of pain presented by the sample was 42.3% intense pain, 23.1% moderate pain and in 34.6% no pain was presented. The instrument presented reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.802.

Conclusions

Premature infants under 37 weeks felt greater pain than full-term newborns. Regarding Barth weight, it was observed that the greater the weight, the grater the pain. Birth APGAR in the study indicated that there is a direct but weak relation and the higher APGAR at birth, the greater the pain.

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