| Title | The effect of massage on heart rate variability in preterm infants. | ||
| Author | Smith, S L; Lux, R; Haley, S; Slater, H; Beachy, J; Moyer-Mileur, L J | ||
| Journal | J Perinatol | Publication Year/Month | 2013-Jan |
| PMID | 22538325 | PMCID | PMC3531576 |
| Affiliation | 1.School of Nursing, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40202, USA. slsmit51@louisville.edu. | ||
OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that massage would improve autonomic nervous system (ANS) function as measured by heart rate variability (HRV) in preterm infants. STUDY DESIGN: Medically stable, 29- to 32-week preterm infants (17 massage, 20 control) were enrolled in a masked, randomized longitudinal study. Licensed massage therapists provided the massage or control condition twice a day for 4 weeks. Weekly HRV, a measure of ANS development and function, was analyzed using SPSS generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: Infant characteristics were similar between groups. HRV improved in massaged infants but not in the control infants (P<0.05). Massaged males had a greater improvement in HRV than females (P<0.05). HRV in massaged infants was on a trajectory comparable to term-born infants by study completion. CONCLUSION: Massage-improved HRV in a homogeneous sample of hospitalized, medically stable, preterm male infants and may improve infant response to exogenous stressors. We speculate that massage improves ANS function in these infants.