Neonatal Invasive Procedures Predict Pain Intensity at School Age in Children Born Very Preterm

Introduction: Children born very preterm display altered pain thresholds. Little is known about the neonatal clinical and psychosocial factors associated with their later pain perception. Objective: We aimed to examine whether the number of neonatal invasive procedures, adjusted for other clinical and psychosocial factors, was associated with self-ratings of pain during a blood collection procedure at school age in children born very preterm. Materials and Methods: 56 children born very preterm (24 to 32 weeks gestational age), followed longitudinally from birth, and free of major neurodevelopmental impairments underwent a blood collection by venipuncture at age 7.5 years. The children's pain was selfreported using the Coloured Analog Scale and the Facial Affective Scale. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Pain exposure (the number of invasive procedures) and clinical factors from birth to term-equivalent age were obtained prospectively. Multiple linear regression was used to predict children's pain self-ratings from neonatal pain exposure after adjusting for neonatal clinical and concurrent psychosocial factors. Results: A greater number of neonatal invasive procedures and higher parent trait-anxiety were associated with higher pain intensity ratings during venipuncture at age 7.5 years. Fewer surgeries and lower concurrent child externalizing behaviors were associated with a higher pain intensity. Conclusions: In very preterm children, exposure to neonatal pain was related to altered pain self-ratings at school age, independent of other neonatal factors. Neonatal surgeries and concurrent psychosocial factors were also associated with pain ratings.