Creation of a Scale for Assessing Pain and Discomfort in Extremely Premature Infants (EDEX) Hospitalised in Neonatal Intensive Care, Inspired by the Early Infant Pain and Discomfort Scale (EDIN)
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- This is an observational study: the protocol does not assign a study treatment.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Extremely Premature Infant, Pain, Discomfort Symptoms. Basic parameters: up to 27 Weeks · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Creation of a Scale for Assessing Pain and Discomfort in Extremely Premature Infants (EDEX) Hospitalised in Neonatal Intensive Care, Inspired by the Early Infant Pain and Distress Scale (EDIN)
Overview
The goal of this study is to develop a new scale for assessing prolonged pain, dedicated to extremely premature infants born before 27 weeks of gestation, adapted to their particular ways of expressing pain and discomfort, which will be called the EDEX (Extremely Premature Infant Pain Assessment Scale). This scale will take into account the level of development of extremely premature infants, recognizing that the perception and manifestations of pain vary according to gestational age. It was chosen to develop a specific pain assessment scale for preterm infants born before 27 weeks of gestation, in line with their level of development and their relatively homogeneous manifestations in this population. This population, which is the most immature, is particularly fragile and sensitive to its environment and the care provided. Pain manifestations are the most subtle, vegetative reactions are very present, and the motor system is still underdeveloped, linked to low muscle tone. It is with this category of patients that the nursing staff encounter the most difficulty in assessing pain and discomfort based on the EDIN scale. After creating the new EDEX scale during the first phase of the DOU-PREMA study, both scales (EDIN and EDEX) will be administered to the same pool of extremely premature infants during the second phase of the DOU-PRÉMA study in order to assess the correlation between the two scales. The main hypothesis is that EDIN and EDEX scores will not be correlated, as the EDIN does not appear to be suitable for extremely premature infants in routine practice. if the hypothesis is confirmed, a multicenter psychometric validation of the EDEX scale will then be considered in a future study. The study is a monocentric, non-interventional observational study conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the University Hospital of Reunion Island (Site Nord). It is designed as a preliminary step toward the psychometric validation of a newly developed behavioral pain and discomfort assessment scale for extremely preterm infants (\<27 weeks' gestational age), named EDEX. The study includes two sequential phases: 1. a developmental phase dedicated to the creation of the EDEX scale : This stage is based on the production of videos of premature extreme in order to ajust the provisional scale define during a multidisciplinary meeting. 2. a cross-sectional observational phase comparing EDEX with the EDIN scale in the same population. The second phase of the project will evaluate the correlation between EDIN and EDEX scores. This protocol follows the SPIRIT recommendations for study protocols involving human participants.
Primary outcome measures
- Correlation between scores on the new EDEX pain assessment scale and scores obtained with the EDIN [Time frame: at baseline]
Secondary outcome measures (5)
- Distribution of scores obtained in the EDIN and EDEX [Time frame: through study completion, an average of 18 months]
- Description of the EDEX adaptation procedure. [Time frame: through study completion, an average of 18 months]
- Description of the difficulties and quality of the EDEX adaptation, by the members of the working group [Time frame: through study completion, an average of 18 months]
- Assessment of paramedics' satisfaction with EDEX [Time frame: through study completion, an average of 18 months]
- Comparison of EDIN and EDEX scores before and after taking painkillers (sensitivity to change) [Time frame: through study completion, an average of 18 months]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
Extremely premature infants:
- born before 27 weeks of gestation, and aged no more than 26 weeks of amenorrhea + 6 days in corrected age,
- from 48 hours of life,
- hospitalised in neonatal intensive care,
- for whom at least one of the two legal guardians has given their consent.
Exclusion criteria
Extreme premature infants:
- whose clinical condition is critical with a risk of imminent death,
- with major brain damage (HIV 4) or major brain malformations,
- deeply sedated or paralyzed with no spontaneous reactions,
- whose parents are both minors.
- who are not already participating in another study.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Observational model
- Case-control
Study locations
Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07481331 · 2025/CHU/17