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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2013 Jan;33(1):59-64.
doi: 10.1038/jp.2012.47. Epub 2012 Apr 26.

The effect of massage on heart rate variability in preterm infants

S L Smith  1 , R Lux, S Haley, H Slater, J Beachy, L J Moyer-Mileur
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The effect of massage on heart rate variability in preterm infants

S L Smith et al. J Perinatol. 2013 Jan.

Erratum in

  • J Perinatol. 2013 Mar;33(3):250. Beechy, J [corrected to Beachy, J]

Abstract

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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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pre-session LF/HF ratio in male and female infants receiving massage intervention or the control. *Denotes a significant increase in LF/HF ratio from baseline to week 3 and from baseline to week 4 in control male preterm infants. *Denotes a significant difference between massage male and control male infants at weeks 3 and 4. ‡Denotes a significant decrease from baseline to week 4 in massage male infants. Female massage and control infants demonstrated no significant differences in LF/HF ratio over time, from baseline to week 4 and there were no significant differences between massage and control females at any time point.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Post-session LF/HF ratio in male and female infants receiving massage or the control. *Denotes a significant difference in LF/HF ratio at week 3 between massage and control males and denotes a significant increase in LF/HF ratio from weeks 0 to 3 in control males.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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