Finger-pricking devices: are they less painful than lancets?

Effect of Hypodermic Needle Versus Safety Lancet on the Fear and Anxiety of Needle Prick Among Undergraduate Medical Students During Hematology Practical: A Cohort Study From a Resource-Limited Setting

Background

Most of the government-sponsored medical teaching institutions in India do not provide safety lancets, and hence, the students are compelled to use hypodermic needles. These needles are widely unpopular among students due to the potential hazards (pain, fear, anxiety) associated with them. This study aims to compare any difference in fear and anxiety associated with finger pricking with a hypodermic needle and a safety lancet.

Methods

This is a prospective cohort study. The current study included data from first-year undergraduate medical students for academic sessions 2021-22.

Results

A total of 121 students participated in the study. Eighty-two (67.8%) participants were male. 41/82 male participants and 20/39 female participants were allocated to the intervention cohort. 111 (91.7%) pricked their fingers by themselves. The sight of others pricking during the experiment (17 versus 5, p=0.004) and the thought of pain while pricking (36 versus 16, p<0.001) was significantly associated more with the use of a hypodermic needle compared to a safety lancet. There was no significant difference in students perceiving the smell of the hematology laboratory (4 versus 1, p=0.165) and the sight of blood (9 versus 3, p=0.064) as a factor influencing their fear and anxiety in both cohorts. There was no gender difference in the perception of these factors.

Symptoms were significantly lower in the intervention cohort compared to the control cohort (8 versus 20, odds ratio 0.302, p=0.008). The most common symptom experienced was excessive sweating (n=22, 18.18%), followed by drying of the mouth (n=12, 9.91%). There was a significant difference in pain scores between the intervention and the control cohorts. There was no significant difference in pain scores among male and female subjects.

Conclusion

A considerable difference between the two cohorts was found. The use of lancets can be proposed to medical teaching institutions for psychological advantage, pain reduction, and overall better quality of the process.

Finger pricking and pain: a never ending story

Without finger pricking, no self-measurement of blood glucose (SMBG) is possible. However, the number of scientific studies dealing with this topic, which is highly relevant for patients, is surprisingly small. This is in sharp contrast to the number of papers about blood glucose meters and SMBG in general. This article highlights a number of aspects that are relevant when it comes to finger pricking and pain. There is a clear improvement in the technology employed in the many different lancing devices that are on the market nowadays; however, no good head-to-head comparison study has been performed to date. The invention of novel devices for finger pricking will most likely bring more attention to this topic.