The infant–doctor relationship: an examination of infants’ distress reactions in the presence of a doctor
Abstract Fear of doctors is a common source of distress among infants; however, the underlying sources of this distress are unknown. To investigate the doctor-infant relationship, the behaviors of 61 healthy infants (176–617 days old) were observed in a simulated examination room. Their behaviors an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2024-04-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58677-5 |
| _version_ | 1797219839564054528 |
|---|---|
| author | Motonobu Watanabe Masaharu Kato Yoshi-Taka Matsuda Kosuke Taniguchi Shoji Itakura |
| author_facet | Motonobu Watanabe Masaharu Kato Yoshi-Taka Matsuda Kosuke Taniguchi Shoji Itakura |
| author_sort | Motonobu Watanabe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Fear of doctors is a common source of distress among infants; however, the underlying sources of this distress are unknown. To investigate the doctor-infant relationship, the behaviors of 61 healthy infants (176–617 days old) were observed in a simulated examination room. Their behaviors and electrocardiograms were recorded. Two groups of infants were analyzed: those who cried and those who did not. When an experimenter dressed in the doctor’s attire entered the room, all 9 infants who were crying (14.8% of all infants) stopped crying, all infants gazed at the experimenter, and their mean heart rate (HR) decreased. After the auscultation started, 29.5% of all infants cried, and the HRs of infants who cried were higher than those of infants who did not cry. During the auscultation, 80.0% of infants who cried averted from the experimenter, while 34.4% of infants who did not cry. Within 5 s of gazing at the stethoscope, the number of infants who cried increased from 3 to 12, and their mean HR also increased. Our findings suggest that the fear of doctors is not due to the appearance of doctors but rather to specific actions performed by doctors, such as auscultation. Infants may regard a doctor’s appearance as a source of interest. Furthermore, a stethoscope is a possible trigger for infants’ crying. These behavioral observations suggest the potential for patient-centered care for infants. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:40:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ff9a2df5a7ec43d7928cfb220e014c4b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:40:01Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-ff9a2df5a7ec43d7928cfb220e014c4b2024-04-07T11:17:46ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-04-0114111410.1038/s41598-024-58677-5The infant–doctor relationship: an examination of infants’ distress reactions in the presence of a doctorMotonobu Watanabe0Masaharu Kato1Yoshi-Taka Matsuda2Kosuke Taniguchi3Shoji Itakura4Center for Baby Science, Doshisha UniversityCenter for Baby Science, Doshisha UniversityCenter for Baby Science, Doshisha UniversityCenter for Baby Science, Doshisha UniversityCenter for Baby Science, Doshisha UniversityAbstract Fear of doctors is a common source of distress among infants; however, the underlying sources of this distress are unknown. To investigate the doctor-infant relationship, the behaviors of 61 healthy infants (176–617 days old) were observed in a simulated examination room. Their behaviors and electrocardiograms were recorded. Two groups of infants were analyzed: those who cried and those who did not. When an experimenter dressed in the doctor’s attire entered the room, all 9 infants who were crying (14.8% of all infants) stopped crying, all infants gazed at the experimenter, and their mean heart rate (HR) decreased. After the auscultation started, 29.5% of all infants cried, and the HRs of infants who cried were higher than those of infants who did not cry. During the auscultation, 80.0% of infants who cried averted from the experimenter, while 34.4% of infants who did not cry. Within 5 s of gazing at the stethoscope, the number of infants who cried increased from 3 to 12, and their mean HR also increased. Our findings suggest that the fear of doctors is not due to the appearance of doctors but rather to specific actions performed by doctors, such as auscultation. Infants may regard a doctor’s appearance as a source of interest. Furthermore, a stethoscope is a possible trigger for infants’ crying. These behavioral observations suggest the potential for patient-centered care for infants.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58677-5 |
| spellingShingle | Motonobu Watanabe Masaharu Kato Yoshi-Taka Matsuda Kosuke Taniguchi Shoji Itakura The infant–doctor relationship: an examination of infants’ distress reactions in the presence of a doctor Scientific Reports |
| title | The infant–doctor relationship: an examination of infants’ distress reactions in the presence of a doctor |
| title_full | The infant–doctor relationship: an examination of infants’ distress reactions in the presence of a doctor |
| title_fullStr | The infant–doctor relationship: an examination of infants’ distress reactions in the presence of a doctor |
| title_full_unstemmed | The infant–doctor relationship: an examination of infants’ distress reactions in the presence of a doctor |
| title_short | The infant–doctor relationship: an examination of infants’ distress reactions in the presence of a doctor |
| title_sort | infant doctor relationship an examination of infants distress reactions in the presence of a doctor |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58677-5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT motonobuwatanabe theinfantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT masaharukato theinfantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT yoshitakamatsuda theinfantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT kosuketaniguchi theinfantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT shojiitakura theinfantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT motonobuwatanabe infantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT masaharukato infantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT yoshitakamatsuda infantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT kosuketaniguchi infantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor AT shojiitakura infantdoctorrelationshipanexaminationofinfantsdistressreactionsinthepresenceofadoctor |