Effect of Lavender Oil Inhalation on Injection Pain Intensity Among Children Undergoing Vaccination

Abstract

Background: Pain control and management are the most critical aspects of basic needs, human rights, and nursing care in children. Aim: to evaluate the effect of lavender oil inhalation on injection pain intensity among children undergoing vaccination Design: A quasi experimental research design was utilized to fit the aim of the study. Setting: the study was conducted in selected governmental, ministry of health and population pediatric primary health centers (health offices). Sample: A purposive sample of 100 child, who attended primary health care centers to receive vaccination injections were enrolled either in control (50) or intervention (50) group randomly. Data collection tools: 1) Structured interview questionnaire, related to the personal characteristics of vaccinated children and nurses who give the vaccine; 2) The Modified Behavioral Pain Scale (MBPS) developed by Taddio et al. (1995). 3) cry duration measured in seconds. Results: There was a highly significant difference between the total pain scores and cry duration of control and intervention group immediately and five minutes after injection with p.≤ 0.05. There was a highly significant positive correlation between total scores of MBPS immediately and five minutes after injection with cry duration in control group. While there was a highly significant correlation between total scores of MBPS five minutes after injection and cry duration in intervention group (P ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: children who were in the intervention group and received lavender oil inhalation after the injection showed lower pain scores using the MBPS scale and shorter cry duration after vaccination injection than those who were in the control group. Recommendation: pediatric nurses need to conduct more strict experimental randomized trials on larger representative samples to evaluate effect of lavender oil inhalation on injection pain reduction among children.