Mechanisms of “Cough-Trick” for Pain Relief during Venipuncture: An Experimental Crossover Investigation in Healthy Volunteers

Table 1

Sample characteristics.

	Investigation 1	Investigation 2	Investigation 3
Conditions	Cough-trick^a vs. weak distraction^b	Cough-trick vs. strong distraction^c	Without intervention^d vs. cough-trick under NX^e
Sample size (n)	21	20	13
Age in years	24 ± 3	26 ± 4	26 ± 4
Height in cm	180 ± 6	181 ± 8	181 ± 4
Weight in kg	77 ± 9	74 ± 11	81 ± 9

^aCough-trick: moderate cough performed simultaneously to the venipuncture (VP). ^bWeak distraction: participants squeezed a rubber ball with the nonpunctured hand during VP. ^cStrong distraction: participants manually inflated the tourniquet, placed on the arm at which VP was performed, to a pressure of 200 mmHg and hold it attentively during VP. ^dWithout intervention: VP was performed without intervention to inject naloxone. ^eCough-trick under NX: cough performed during VP under naloxone (NX) impact. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation.