The Effect of Gentle Human Touch and Stimulus Reduction on Pain and Comfort During Heel Blood Collection in Premature Newborns

July 15, 2026 updated by: Kubra Nur Kabakcı Sarıdağ
Premature infants frequently experience painful procedures during their admission to neonatal intensive care units; this can lead to acute adverse events, imbalances, and long-term neurodevelopmental implications. This randomized controlled trial evaluates the impact of Gentle Human Touch (GHT) and rate change (eye mask and earplug) on pain and comfort during heel prick blood collection in premature infants (32-36+6 weeks gestational age). A total of 60 infants were randomly assigned to three groups: GHT, rate change, and standard care (pacifier). Pain was assessed using the Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R), and comfort was measured before, during, and after the procedure using the COMFORTneo operator. Physiological impact (heart rate, oxygen saturation) and propagation time were recorded. The findings provide evidence for safe and effective non-pharmacological interventions in pain management and their inclusion in developmental care protocols.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Preterm infants with a gestational age between 32 and 36+6 weeks
  • Written informed consent obtained from parents

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Infants with serious medical conditions that may affect study parameters
  • Infants receiving intensive invasive treatments (e.g., opioid or sedative medication)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Gentle Human Touch
Gentle human touch (GHT) will be applied 3-5 minutes before, during, and after the heel prick blood test.
Other: Gentle Human Touch

Before starting the procedure, the nurse performing the intervention will wear a clean gown and wash both hands and forearms with an antimicrobial agent for 3 minutes.

The nurse's hand temperature will be measured with a digital thermometer prior to the intervention to ensure it is at an appropriate level. If the temperature is not suitable, both hands will be warmed under a radiant warmer until they reach 33-33.2 °C, and the intervention will begin once this temperature is achieved.

During the intervention, the nurse will place the fingertips of one hand on the infant's eyebrow line with the palm resting on the top of the head, while the other hand will be positioned on the lower abdomen covering the waist and hips, maintaining this position for 15 minutes.
Experimental: Environmental Modification
Eye mask and earmuffs will be applied 3-5 minutes before, during, and after the heel prick blood test.
Other: Environmental Modification
Infants assigned to the environmental modification group will receive an eye mask and neonatal earmuffs (Minimuffs) to reduce exposure to light and noise. The eye mask is a soft, adjustable, and disposable phototherapy band designed to block external light stimuli. The earmuffs are oval-shaped, foam-based neonatal ear protectors with hydrogel adhesive, designed to reduce noise levels by more than 50% and ensure safe single use. Both interventions will be applied 3-5 minutes before, during, and for 3-5 minutes after venous blood sampling, for a total of approximately 15 minutes. Standard care with a pacifier will also be provided according to unit practice.
No Intervention: Standard Care
Finger feeding will be provided before, during, and after the procedure, according to the unit routine.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Procedural Pain Score
Time Frame: 5 minutes before the procedure, during the procedure, and 5 minutes after the procedure.
The pain experienced during heel prick blood sampling will be assessed using the Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R) scale. The scale ranges from 0 to 21 (for premature infants), with higher scores indicating greater pain intensity.
5 minutes before the procedure, during the procedure, and 5 minutes after the procedure.
Procedural Comfort Score
Time Frame: 5 minutes before the procedure, during the procedure, and 5 minutes after the procedure.
Comfort during heel prick blood sampling will be assessed using the COMFORTneo Scale. The scale ranges from 7 to 35, with higher scores indicating a lower level of comfort.
5 minutes before the procedure, during the procedure, and 5 minutes after the procedure.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Crying Duration
Time Frame: During and immediately after heel prick blood sampling
Total duration of crying during heel prick blood sampling will be measured with a stopwatch and recorded in seconds.
During and immediately after heel prick blood sampling
Oxygen Saturation
Time Frame: 5 minutes before, during, and 5 minutes after heel prick blood sampling
Oxygen saturation levels will be monitored with pulse oximetry.
5 minutes before, during, and 5 minutes after heel prick blood sampling

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Kubra Nur Kabakcı Sarıdağ

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 20, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 19, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 15, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 20, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 15, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • KUBRAN-GHT-PREM-2025

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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