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The effect of massage on heart rate variability in preterm infants
1School 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.
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