| Study of 10 days of massage: A study
published by Frank Scafidi, et al. in the journal Infant
Behavior and Development in 1986 showed several differences between massaged infants and the
control group.
Their study included 40 preterm neonates in a NICU who were randomly
assigned to either the treatment or control group. The treatment
group received tactile/kinesthetic massage for three 15 minute periods
during three consecutive hours for 10 days. Their study found the
following differences between the control group and the massaged group:
Massaged group:
- had 47% more weight gain per day than the control group (25 vs. 17 grams)
despite equal number of feeds and formula intake
- gained more weight per calories of intake per kilogram of body weight
- was awake or active a greater percentage of time during sleep/wake
behavioral observations
- showed more mature habituation, orientation, motor, and range of behavior
(as measured by the Brazelton scale)
- was hospitalized 6 days fewer
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