Cited by 255Infant Health and DevelopmentPediatric Pain Management TechniquesInfant Nutrition and Health

Systematic review and meta-analysis: fussing and crying durations and prevalence of colic in infants

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Wolke, Dieter, Bilgin, Ayten, Samara, Muthanna·2017·The Journal of Pediatrics

Abstract

Objective To determine the mean duration of fussing and crying and prevalence of colic using modified Wessel criteria in infants in the first 3 months of life.Study design A systematic literature search was performed using the databases Medline, PsycINFO, and Embase. The major outcome measure was mean total fuss/cry duration during 24 hours at ages 1-2 weeks (11 samples), 3-4 weeks (6 samples), 5-6 weeks (28 samples), 8-9 weeks (9 samples), and 10-12 weeks (12 samples).Results Of 5687 articles reviewed, 28 diary studies (33 samples) were suitable for inclusion in meta-analysis; these studies included 8690 infants. No statistical evidence for a universal crying peak at 6 weeks of age across studies was found. Rather, the mean fuss/cry duration across studies was stable at 117-133 minutes (SDs: 66-70) in the first 6 weeks and dropped to a mean of 68 minutes (SD: 46.2) by 10-12 weeks of age. Colic was much more frequent in the first 6 weeks (17%-25%) compared with 11% by 8-9 weeks of age and 0.6% by 10-12 weeks of age, according to modified Wessel criteria and lowest in Denmark and Japan.Conclusions The duration of fussing/crying drops significantly after 8-9 weeks of age, with colic as defined by modified Wessel criteria being rare in infants older than 9 weeks. Colic or excessive fuss/cry may be more accurately identified by defining fuss/cry above the 90th percentile in the chart provided based on the review.

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  1. Borenstein M, Hedges LV, Higgins JPT, Rothstein HR. Inroduction to Meta- Analysis. Chichester (UK): John Wiley & Sons,; 2009.
  2. Keller H, Chasiotis A, Risau-Peters J, Volker S, Zach U, Restemeier R. Psychobiological aspects of infant crying. Early Dev Parent 1996;5:1-13.

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Authors
Wolke, D., Bilgin, A., & Samara, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Warwick (GB)
  • Kingston University London (GB)
Venue
The Journal of Pediatrics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-06
Volume
185
Pages
55-61.e4
ISSN
0022-3476 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2604359107
Cited by
255
References
89
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 6
FWCI
4.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Journal of Pediatrics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Repository (Kingston University London) (acceptedVersion)
  • Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) (acceptedVersion)
  • Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion)
Funders
University of Warwick
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric Pain Management Techniques
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
Keywords
infantile colic, infant crying, crying duration
MeSH terms
Colic, Crying, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Irritable Mood, Time Factors, Prevalence, Infant Behavior

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