Validation of the Persian Version of Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised in Hospitalized Infants at the Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Premature infants undergo several painful procedures in the neonatal intensive care units leading to many short-term and long-term detrimental effects on their health. Identifying pain in infants is complex because they are not able to express pain verbally. Hence, using a validated tool to assess pain in infants is essential to ensure effective control of pain.
The present study aimed to validate the Persian Premature Infant Pain Profile-revised (PIPP_R) in preterm and term infants hospitalized at neonatal intensive care units.
This methodological cross-sectional study recruited 145 infants in four gestational age groups Irrespective of gestational age, PIPP-R scores were significantly higher during painful procedures (9.59 ± 2.55) compared to non-painful procedures (3.34 ± 1.48). A comparison of pain scores among four infant groups showed a significant difference in pricking scores among the groups (P value The results showed that the Persian version of PIPP-R has a high construct validity and reliability and can be used as a valid tool to assess pain in preterm and term infants by physicians and nurses in clinical practices. The applicability of the tool by nurses must be assessed.