Reducing Vaccination Pain in Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effects of ShotBlocker and Manual Pressure

The experience of a vaccination is more painful for children than adults. This randomized experimental study aimed to evaluate the impact of ShotBlocker and manual pressure on pain reduction during administering pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) in infants. The study was performed with 102 4-month-old infants who received the PCV at 3 health centers. The participants were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 groups: ShotBlocker, manual pressure, and control. Each group included 34 infants, with an equal distribution of genders. Data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire, the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale, and video recordings. The results indicated that neither manual pressure nor ShotBlocker effectively reduced pain during PCV administration in 4-month-old infants. No statistically significant difference was found in Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) scores among the groups after vaccination (<i>F</i> = 0.789, <i>P</i> > .05). These results highlight the need specific approaches to nonpharmacological pain management during vaccination for 4-month-old infants.<b>Registration:</b> Clinical trials number is NCT06813729 (ClinicalTrials.gov).