Massage therapy improves neurodevelopment outcome at two years corrected age for very low birth weight infants

Abstract

Background Long term effects of massage therapy in very preterm newborns infants are still to be described. Few studies evaluated neurodevelopment just at six months, and included late preterm infants. Objective To study the effect of massage therapy on neurodevelopment of very low birth weight infants at two years corrected age. Study design Newborns with birth weight between ≥ 750 and ≤ 1500 g and gestational age ≤ 32 weeks were randomly assigned to massage therapy by mothers plus skin-to-skin care (Intervention Group) or just skin-to-skin care (Control Group) during their hospital stay. Growth and neurodevelopment outcome were evaluated at 2 years corrected age. Results We followed 73 newborns (35 in Intervention Group, and 38 in Control Group). Both groups were similar in neonatal data. Growth at 2 years corrected age was similar in both groups. Intervention Group had borderline higher Psychomotor Development Index and significantly higher Mental Development Index scores than Control Group. Conclusions We suggest that massage therapy by mothers combined to skin-to-skin care during neonatal hospital stay improves neurodevelopment outcome at 2 years corrected age.