Has discomfort during neonatal transfers improved over time?.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate neonatal pain during neonatal transfer. Comparison with previous published data was carried out to assess if the increase in neonatal pain scores seen during transport was mitigated by developments in the transport process and equipment. This is a prospective cohort study on all infants transported by Embrace, Yorkshire and Humber Infant and Children's Transport Service over a 12-month period. The Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) was used to measure stress and discomfort at five specified times during transport. The score before any interventions/transport at the referring unit was used as the baseline. A total of 113 babies had complete data and were included in final analysis. PIPP scores from our 2024 data showed a similar pattern to 2009, with the PIPP scores increasing during the transport process and peaking on arrival at the receiving unit. When compared to baseline scores, PIPP score data from this study was higher than the 2009 data. Conclusion : Infants continue to demonstrate high levels of discomfort during the transport process. Despite advances in transport equipment, our current cohort showed higher levels of discomfort compared to 2009 when against their respective baseline scores. What is Known: * Discomfort and pain have been studied in the NICU setting but data is limited in the transport environment. What is New: * This study shows that neonatal pain scores increase during the transport process. Despite efforts to mitigate this, current PIPP scores are higher than our previous cohort. * Further considerations need to be made to reduce neonatal pain during transport.