Charting infant distress: an aid to defining colic.

Hill, D J; Menahem, S; Hudson, I; Sheffield, L; Shelton, M; Oberklaid, F; Hosking, C S · J Pediatr · 1992

case_control · Level III

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Abstract

The value of a 24-hour distress diary, previously validated against a voice-activated audiotape record, was investigated in 30 infants with colic and 30 control infants. The infants with colic had significantly more distress behavior (300.0 minutes vs 102.5 minutes; p < 0.001), although overlap of duration of distress was noted. On the basis of a clinical definition of colic--total distress lasting 180 minutes in a 24-hour period--the diary had a sensitivity of 77% and a specificity of 87%. The sensitivity of the chart was confirmed in a separate study of another 90 infants with colic.

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