Colicky infants according to maternal reports in telephone interviews and diaries: a large Scandinavian study.

• In this population-based study the colic incidence was 9.4%, according to telephone interviews with the parents made when the infants were 5 weeks of age (n = 1628), and parental concern about infant crying was common. However, 7-day diaries of colicky and control infants (n = 116 + 119) revealed low distress amounts in colicky infants in general. In the subgroup of Wessel-colicky infants (n = 37), distress episodes were frequent and long lasting, and there was a high proportion of colicky crying versus fussing and normal crying. Even if there may be a reduction in the infantile colic incidence and support for the hypothesis that infantile colic is at least partially "in the eye of the beholder," that is, the concerned parent, a subgroup of infants may be more "genuinely colicky." Women who had stated in late-pregnancy interviews that there is a risk of spoiling an infant with too much physical contact were more likely to have infants with colic, and their infants were more distressed, even when given the same amount of physical contact. This finding warrants further elucidation.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Pediatrik (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Pediatrics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Counseling

Non-U.S. Gov't

Support

Pregnancy

Mother-Child Relations

Medical Records

Male

Interviews

Infant

Incidence

Human

Female

Cross-Sectional Studies

Crying

Comparative Study

Colic/*epidemiology/psychology

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)