Influences on infant responses to routine immunisation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Determinants of Infant pain Expression: A Prospective Cohort Study
IRAS ID
122449
Contact name
Hannah Harvey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Durham University
Research summary
Infants in the UK are offered a set of immunisations at two, three and four-months-old to protect them from harmful diseases. Immunisations are given routinely and in the same way, making vaccination procedures a useful environment in which to study infant pain observed through facial expressions, body movements and cry. The way infants express pain can be affected by many things, including the experience of harmful substances (e.g., heroin)in the womb, being born with a genetic disorder (e.g., Down Syndrome, DS), or the way care-givers respond to pain behaviours. This study will observe the routine vaccination of 250 two-four month-old infants and their care-givers (200 healthy, 25 heroin-exposed, 25 DS). Immunisations given at medical practices will be video-taped. No changes will be made to the vaccination procedure. The study aims to examine whether infants who have been exposed to heroin or have DS have a different behavioural response to pain when compared to healthy infants. The findings will increase our understanding of infant pain and how it is assessed in children who experience medical procedures at a young age. Care-givers who have a bad experience of immunisation may be less likely to return for future vaccinations. This study will use Q-methodology to see whether care-givers of children who have not received all of their vaccines by 13-months-old had a different view of immunisations at two-months compared to care-givers whose children are fully immunised. Care-givers will complete the Q-sort after the immunisation. Understanding the views of care-givers who have not fully immunised their children may help to develop an educational intervention to improve immunisation rates in this group. Participation should take about 45 minutes. This project is being conducted in partial fulfilment of a PhD funded by the Economic and Social Research Council
REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/NE/0211
Date of REC Opinion
9 Oct 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion