| Assessing the pain experienced by premature neonates as they undergo procedures in the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital is challenging, due to the nonverbal nature of the population. The premature neonatal heart rate response to these procedures is a potential indicator of the pain experienced by a baby.; This study's purpose was to determine whether a pain indicator based on the heart rate response to a treatment episode could be used to assess the pain experienced during treatment. The population of interest was premature neonates; the sample consisted of data from 112 nonpainful and 122 painful (heel sticks) treatment episodes from a total of 62 babies receiving treatment in Toledo, Ohio area hospitals. |
