A More Comfortable Method of Skin Prick Testing in Children Ages 0-2 to Decrease Symptoms of Pain.

BACKGROUND

Skin prick testing (SPT) is the best initial diagnostic method for individuals of all ages who have potential allergies.

AIM: We aimed to investigate if recent breastfeeding has any effect on reducing the pain of children before SPT.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomized, single-blinded study.

SETTINGS: Academic hospital specialized in pediatrics.

PARTICIPANTS/SUBJECTS: Sixty-four out of seventy-five children requiring SPT within ages 0-2 were included.

METHODS

All participants in this study were breastfed children, and that group assignment randomized them to the control group (n = 32) if children breastfed 30-90 min. prior to arriving for SPT, and study group of children (n = 32) who were also breastfed 30-90 minutes prior to arriving for SPT who were then breastfed again just prior to the beginning of the SPT. The FLACC pain scale was used to test the sensitivity of all children for pain before, during, and 15 minutes after the SPT. The effect of breastfeeding on the pain score and the duration of crying were compared among groups.

RESULTS

Both groups were similar according to age, gender, and other socio-demographic characteristics (p > .05). The percentage of children that cried during SPT was significantly higher in the control group than the study group (p = .002). The FLACC pain scale values were significantly lower in the study group (p < .001).

CONCLUSION

Recent breastfeeding before SPT is correlated with less crying by possibly reducing the perceived pain of children ages 0-2.