Massage with kinesthetic stimulation improves weight gain in preterm infants

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of massage with or without kinesthetic stimulation on weight gain and length of hospital stay in the preterm infant.Study Design: A prospective randomized clinical trial was conducted evaluating the effects of massage with or without kinesthetic stimulation (KS) on weight gain and length of stay (LOS) in medically stable premature (<1500 g and/or p32 weeks gestational age) neonates. Infants were randomized either to receive no intervention (control), massage therapy alone (massage), or massage therapy with KS (M/KS). Linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate differences in the primary outcomes between the groups after controlling for covariates. Post hoc analysis with stratification by birthweight (BW> and <1000 g) was also performed.Result: A total of 60 premature infants were recruited for this study; 20 infants in each group. Average daily weight gain and LOS were similar between the groups after controlling for covariates. For infants with BW>1000 g, average daily weight gain was increased in the intervention groups compared to control. This effect was mainly attributable to the M/KS group. Conclusion:Massage with KS is a relatively simple and inexpensive intervention that can improve weight gain in selected preterm infants. Length of hospital stay is not impacted by massage with or without KS. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of massage in the extremely low BW(<1000 g) infant.

Development of an Evidence-Based Guideline for Preterm Infant Massage by Parents

“…All trials wherein the massage was provided by qualified therapists showed a positive result; that is, the massage group gained more weight than the control and/or sham group [3,6,[11][12][13][14].…”

“…Massage therapy in 10 out of the 12 articles consists of a 15 min massage session, which includes tactile stimulation with moderate pressure on the limbs and trunk and kinesthetic stimulation on the four limbs [3,6,[11][12][13][14][15][17][18][19]. The other two massage methods are a 20 min touch procedure adopted by Livingston et al [8] and acupressure and meridian massage adopted by Chen et al [16].…”

“…Studies that compared the effectiveness of different massage oils were excluded; this was because massage oil brought out concerns, such as allergic reactions and a change of triglyceride and fatty acid profile [9,10]. A total of 12 articles were selected by two independent reviewers ( Figure 1) [3,6,8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The Jadad scale [20] was utilized to assess the quality of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies in this paper.…”

The Effect of Massage on Body Weight Improvement in 0 - 12 Month-Old Babies

“…However, the most recent Cochrane reviewed that no significant evidence proofed the affectivity of baby massage intervention to enhance baby weight, but some study showed that by administering the baby massage regularly would stimulate baby's tactile and kinesthetic and increase the baby weight until 53 percent (Gonzalez et al, 2009). Furthermore, the baby who experienced massage intervention regularly compared to a baby in the regular intervention as control group could stay alert and active, less crying, and had lower cortisol levels in salivary gland which indicated relax (Massaro, Hammad, Jazzo, & Aly, 2009). The massage intervention becomes one alternative and solution to improve baby development during the first year period which improved health, nutrition, cognition, overall enhancement of physical, cognitive, and reproductive performance (Ruel, Alderman, Maternal, & Group, 2013).…”

Meaning of becoming mother and son/daughter through massage

“…It also promotes the development of children through the active stimulation of the neurological system through the skin (6) , allowing for example, an early discharge in hospitalized children because of diseases due to their premature condition (7) . This latter, thanks to the stimulation of better gastric motility, that would be associated with improved digestion and absorption of food, and therefore, the stimulation of growth (8) .…”