Investigating Newborn Pain Identification by Health Professionals Versus Non-health Professionals: A Systematic Review

Background: Eye-tracking methods are among the tools used to assess neonatal pain. This study systematically reviews newborn pain identification by health professionals versus non-professionals.  Objectives: This study aims to systematically review the newborn pain identification by health professionals versus non-professionals. Methods: This was a systematic review conducted following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis guidelines. The research question was to compare newborn pain identification by health professionals versus non-professionals. A comprehensive search was conducted in the following databases: Medline via PubMed, Clarivate Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The search was done until December 2022 using the following keywords: Pain identification, pain perception, infant, neonate and newborn. The data were extracted based on the inclusion criteria. Articles were assessed by two researchers and any discrepancies were resolved by a third author. After the selection process, 6 papers were included in this systematic review. The study protocol is registered in PROSPERO with identification number CRD42022347654. Results: This systematic review revealed that the process of pain assessment in newborns is different according to the decision of a health professional and a non-health professional; therefore, equipping the newborn intensive care unit with verified instruments and their frequent use may help improve communication among caregivers and health professionals.  Conclusions: Additional efforts are required to improve the knowledge of both health professionals and non-health professionals in the process of pain assessment and management according to the age groups of neonates.