Pilot Testing a Robot for Reducing Pain in Hospitalized Preterm Infants

Nicholas Williams, Karon MacLean, Ling Guan, Jean Paul Collet, Liisa Holsti*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Optimizing neurodevelopment is a key goal of neonatal occupational therapy. In preterm infants, repeated procedural pain is associated with adverse effects on neurodevelopment long term. Calmer is a robot designed to reduce infant pain. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of Calmer on heart rate variability (HRV) during routine blood collection in preterm infants. In a randomized controlled pilot trial, 10 infants were assigned to either standard care (n = 5, facilitated tucking [FT]) or Calmer treatment (n = 5). HRV was recorded continuously and quantified using the area (power) of the spectrum in high and low frequency (HF: 0.15-0.40Hz/ms2; LF: 0.04-0.15 Hz/ms2) regions. Changes in HRV during three, 2-min phases (Baseline, Heel Poke, and Recovery) were compared between groups. Calmer infants had 90% greater parasympathetic activation ([PS] reduced stress) during Baseline, 82% greater PS activation during Poke, and 24% greater PS activation during Recovery than FT infants. Calmer reduced physiological preterm infant pain reactivity during blood collection.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)108-115
Number of pages8
JournalOTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research
Volume39
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • occupational therapy
  • pain management
  • premature infant
  • randomized controlled trial

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