Effects of Massage Therapy and Kinesthetic Stimulation on Pre-Term Infants

George Washington University (GW)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Prematurity

Treatments: Behavioral: Massage therapy with exercise; Behavioral: Massage therapy without exercise

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00661791

IRB120206

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study was to determine whether massage with or without physical exercise impacted weight gain or length of hospital stay for premature infants.

Full description

Premature infants are often cared for in a fashion that minimizes physical activity in order to reduce stress and stress-related complications. Previous studies have indicated that massage therapy may increase weight gain and enabled earlier discharge of premature infants.

In this study, premature infants were randomly assigned to one of three groups:

A: Control Group

B: Massage Group, 15 minutes twice a day;

C: Massage and physical exercise group 15 minutes each, twice a day.

Enrollment: 60 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 28 to 32 weeks old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• low birth weight, less than 1500 grams
• weight of at least 1000 grams at time of entry into study
• must be at least one week of age
• must have relative medical stability
• gestational age between 28-32 weeks

Exclusion criteria

• infants with major congenital anomaly
• those that require mechanical ventilatory support
• those that are restricted in their movement or ability to undergo the intervention

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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60 participants in 3 patient groups

A

No Intervention group

Description:

Control Group receives routine care.

B.

Experimental group

Description:

massage group, receives massage only.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Massage therapy without exercise

C.

Experimental group

Description:

Massage and Exercise group, receives both massage and exercise.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Massage therapy with exercise