VACS: VAccination disComfort Scale.

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Child Psychology
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Childhood vaccination is vital for public health.
• Vaccination can cause significant distress and discomfort for children.
• Objective measurement of vaccination-related discomfort is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a tool (VACS) to measure children's discomfort during vaccination.
• To compare children's and healthcare providers' perceptions of acceptable discomfort levels.
• To identify factors influencing vaccination discomfort in children.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Vaccination Discomfort Scale (VACS) based on children's experiences.
• Application of VACS to assess discomfort in 40 children aged 2-12 during vaccination.
• Analysis of VACS scores in relation to child demographics and vaccination history.

Main Results:

• VACS quantifies discomfort on a 0-25 scale, with 11 being the threshold for suffering in children.
• Approximately 60% of children experienced some level of discomfort during vaccination.
• Doctors tolerated higher discomfort levels (up to 19) than children (11).
• Gender, vaccination history, and program completion were poor predictors of discomfort; age may be a factor.

Conclusions:

• VACS provides a standardized method for assessing vaccination discomfort in children.
• A notable discrepancy exists between children's and doctors' perception of tolerable pain.
• Further research is needed to validate age as a predictor and to develop interventions for pain mitigation.