To Look or Not to Look at the Needle During Vaccination
- Conditions
- Vaccination
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Look at the needleBehavioral: Look away from the needle
- Registration Number
- NCT02937428
- Lead Sponsor
- University of Toronto
- Brief Summary
It is common for people to advise individuals undergoing vaccination to look away from the needle to make them hurt less and be less scary. However, this advice is not backed up by research evidence. the purpose of this study is to learn about how looking away vs. looking at the needle during vaccination makes people feel. People will be randomized to 1 of 2 groups: look at the needle, look away. Then they will undergo vaccination and report on pain and fear experienced.
- Detailed Description
It is common for people to advise individuals undergoing vaccination to look away from the needle to make them hurt less and be less scary. However, this advice is not backed up by experimental research evidence. It is possible that looking away acts as a distraction and takes attention away from the needle, thus reducing pain. However, it is also possible that looking at the needle is better because it prevents people's imaginations from making them think it is worse than it actually is. To our knowledge, this is the first first randomized study to examine the effect of looking away vs. looking at the needle on pain and fear experienced during vaccinations. Adult university students undergoing routine flu vaccination will be included.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- UNKNOWN
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 160
- undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy undergoing flu vaccination
- less than 18 years of age or prior participation in the trial
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Look at needle and prefer to look Look at the needle Participant who is self-identified as preferring to look at the needle is randomized to look at the needle during vaccination Look away and prefer to look away Look away from the needle Participant who is self-identified as preferring to look away from the needle is randomized to look away from the needle during vaccination Look away and prefer to look Look away from the needle Participant who is self-identified as preferring to look at the needle is randomized to look away from the needle during vaccination Look at needle and prefer to look away Look at the needle Participant who is self-identified as preferring to look away from the needle is randomized to look at the needle during vaccination
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Pain immediately after vaccination (<5 minutes) self-reported pain assessed after vaccination using a numerical rating scale (0-10)
Fear immediately after vaccination (<5 minutes) self-reported fear assessed after vaccination using a numerical rating scale (0-10)
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Preferences of participants immediately after vaccination (<5 minutes) participant preferences about interventions according to questionnaire
Recruitment rate before vaccination (1 day to 4 weeks) percentage of people eligible that participate
Attrition of participants immediately after vaccination number of participants that are lost/drop-out of study
Feasibility of recruitment of subjects in the 2 study strata (i.e., preference to look or not look) immediately before vaccination (<5 minutes) percentage of individuals that prefer to look or not look at baseline
Duration of appointment immediately after vaccination Amount of time taken for appointment as per clock
Fidelity of intervention During vaccination Compliance with instruction to look at the needle or look away, according to checklist
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Anna Taddio
🇨🇦Toronto, Ontario, Canada