CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 81Infant Health and DevelopmentInfant Development and Preterm CareMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Massage for promoting mental and physical health in typically developing infants under the age of six months

Open access
Bennett, Cathy, Underdown, Angela, Barlow, Jane·2013·Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd005038.pub3PMC PMC8078453
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Infant massage is increasingly being used in the community with babies and their primary caregivers. Anecdotal reports suggest benefits for sleep, respiration and elimination, the reduction of colic and wind, and improved growth. Infant massage is also thought to reduce infant stress and promote positive parent-infant interaction. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review was to assess whether infant massage is effective in promoting infant physical and mental health in low-risk, population samples. SEARCH METHODS: Relevant studies were identified by searching the following electronic databases up to June 2011: CENTRAL; MEDLINE; EMBASE; CINAHL; PsycINFO; Maternity and Infant Care; LILACS; WorldCat (dissertations); ClinicalTrials.gov; China Masters' Theses; China Academic Journals; China Doctoral Dissertations; China Proceedings of Conference. We also searched the reference lists of relevant studies and reviews. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included studies that randomised healthy parent-infant dyads (where the infant was under the age of six months) to an infant massage group or a 'no-treatment' control group. Studies had to have used a standardised outcome measure of infant mental or physical development. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Mean differences (MD) and standardised mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) are presented. Where appropriate, the results have been combined in a meta-analysis using a random-effects model. MAIN RESULTS: We included 34 studies, which includes one that was a follow-up study and 20 that were rated as being at high risk of bias.We conducted 14 meta-analyses assessing physical outcomes post-intervention. Nine meta-analyses showed significant findings favouring the intervention group for weight (MD -965.25 g; 95% CI -1360.52 to -569.98), length (MD -1.30 cm; 95% CI -1.60 to -1.00), head circumference (MD -0.81 cm; 95% CI -1.18 to -0.45), arm circumference (MD -0.47 cm; 95% CI -0.80 to -0.13), leg circumference (MD -0.31 cm; 95% CI -0.49 to -0.13), 24-hour sleep duration (MD -0.91 hr; 95% CI -1.51 to -0.30), time spent crying/fussing (MD -0.36; 95% CI -0.52 to -0.19), deceased levels of blood bilirubin (MD -38.11 mmol/L; 95% CI -50.61 to -25.61), and there were fewer cases of diarrhoea, RR 0.39; 95% CI 0.20 to 0.76). Non-significant results were obtained for cortisol levels, mean increase in duration of night sleep, mean increase in 24-hour sleep and for number of cases of upper respiratory tract disease and anaemia.Sensitivity analyses were conducted for weight, length and head circumference, and only the finding for length remained significant following removal of studies judged to be at high risk of bias. These three outcomes were the only ones that could also be meta-analysed at follow-up; although both weight and head circumference continued to be significant at 6-month follow-up, these findings were obtained from studies conducted in Eastern countries only. No sensitivity analyses were possible.We conducted 18 meta-analyses measuring aspects of mental health and development. A significant effect favouring the intervention group was found for gross motor skills (SMD -0.44; 95% CI -0.70 to -0.18), fine motor skills (SMD -0.61; 95% CI -0.87 to -0.35), personal and social behaviour (SMD -0.90; 95% CI -1.61 to -0.18) and psychomotor development (SMD -0.35; 95% CI -0.54 to -0.15); although the first three findings were obtained from only two studies, one of which was rated as being at high risk of bias, and the finding for psychomotor development was not maintained following following removal of studies judged to be at high risk of bias in a sensitivity analysis. No significant differences were found for a range of aspects of infant temperament, parent-infant interaction and mental development. Only parent-infant interaction could be meta-analysed at follow-up, and the result was again not significant. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: These findings do not currently support the use of infant massage with low-risk groups of parents and infants. Available evidence is of poor quality, and many studies do not address the biological plausibility of the outcomes being measured, or the mechanisms by which change might be achieved. Future research should focus on the impact of infant massage in higher-risk groups (for example, demographically and socially deprived parent-infant dyads), where there may be more potential for change.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/14651858.cd005038.pub3

Cites

97 of 97 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Bennett et al. found no evidence of positive associations between massage and sleep in infants 0-6 months.

    “Bennett et al. [131] did not find evidence of any positive associations between massage and sleep when examining studies conducted with infants ages 0–6 mo.”

    From Benefits of a bedtime routine in young children: Sleep, development, and beyond. (2018) · cites this paper as [131]

    The Results (page unavailable) report several positive sleep findings, including significantly fewer night wakings after massage and at three- and six-month follow-up. The review cautions that the overall evidence is poor and does not support routine use of massage in low-risk groups, but that is different from finding no evidence of any positive association with sleep. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Bennett et al. meta-analysis of 34 studies on massage for full-term infants 0-6 months did not find support for effects of massage on growth and NICU length of stay.

    “Bennett et al. [131] did not find support for these effects in their meta-analytic review of 34 studies on massage for full-term infants, although the review was limited to research conducted with infants ages 0–6 mo.”

    From Benefits of a bedtime routine in young children: Sleep, development, and beyond. (2018) · cites this paper as [131]

    The Results and Discussion (page not available) identify 34 trials of full-term infants aged six months or younger and conclude that the evidence does not support using massage to improve growth in this population; significant growth findings came from studies at high risk of bias. This review did not assess NICU length of stay. Its Background mentions shorter hospital stays only as a finding of reviews of preterm infants, so that part of the claim is not supported by this review's analysis. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Bennett et al. review found small effects of massage on infant personal and social behavior, but high risk of bias may have impacted findings.

    “The Bennett et al. review of massage in full-term infants did find some small effects for massage on infant personal and social behavior, but high risk of bias may have impacted study findings [131].”

    From Benefits of a bedtime routine in young children: Sleep, development, and beyond. (2018) · cites this paper as [131]

    The Background reports a statistically significant effect on infant personal and social behaviour, and says one of the two contributing studies was at high risk of bias. It does not characterize that effect as small: the reported standardized mean difference is −0.90. The risk-of-bias caution is supported, but the magnitude qualifier is not. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Evidence linking massage with better early childhood sleep is mixed.

    “Finally, evidence linking massage with better early childhood sleep is mixed.”

    From Benefits of a bedtime routine in young children: Sleep, development, and beyond. (2018) · cites this paper as [131]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 99 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 26

  1. Duan Lihong, Li Weihong, Shi Fentao. Studying impact of touching on growth and development of infants. Chinese Nursing Research 2002;16:5. [Google Scholar]
  2. Ke G, Ling X, Li L. Clinical survey of improved massage method developing infants' growth and development. China Nurse 2001;36(4):278‐80. [Google Scholar]
  3. Liu Chunyang, Liu J, Lin Xiaojun. Effects of touch on growth and mentality development in normal infants. Chinese Medical Journal (Chung‐Hua i Hsueh Tsa Chih) 2001;81(23):1420‐3. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Liu Chun Li. The effect of touching on healthy infants' weight. Journal of Huaihai Medicine 2005;23(2):137. [Google Scholar]
  5. Liu DY. Clinical experience in infant massage. 100 case studies. Chongqing Medicine 2005;34(7):301. [Google Scholar]
  6. Lu Jiao, Li Ju Zhan, Wu Li Fang. A study of the effect of touch on health in infants. Practical Clinical Medicine 2005;6(2):119‐21. [Google Scholar]
  7. Na Zhuo Hua, Xie Hui Yun, Huang Jian Hua. The effect of infant massage on growth. New Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2005;37(5):69‐70. [Google Scholar]
  8. O'Higgins M. Improving Mother‐Infant Outcomes After Postnatal Depression [PhD thesis]. London: Institute of Education, University of London, 2006. [Google Scholar]
  9. Oswalt KL. Outcomes of Massage Interventions on Teen Mothers and their Infants [MA thesis]. Vol. vii, p 50, Birmingham, AL: University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. [Google Scholar]
  10. Shao L. The effect of infant massage on health: a nursing experience. Journal of Chinese Clinical Research 2005;11(11):1582‐3. [Google Scholar]
  11. Sun Hai Yun, Gao Xiang Yu, Zhao Xue Mei. A comparative study on influence of touching on growth, development and jaundice of normal infants. Chinese Nursing Research 2004;18(8B):1468‐9. [Google Scholar]
  12. Wang Bin, Shen Yue Hua, Jin Run Yan. Improving infant growth by massage: a clinical study. Chinese Journal of Perinatal Medicine 1999;2(4):241‐2. [Google Scholar]
  13. Xua Li Shuan, Qing Gui Romg, Ye Mei Yan, et al. Study of touch intervention of infant sleep disorder. Journal of Nursing Continual Education 2004;19(11):973‐6. [Google Scholar]
  14. Ye Hong Yun. Clinical observation on infant massage. Journal of Gan Nan Medical College 2004;3:239‐40. [Google Scholar]
  15. Zhai J, Pan Xian R, Hua JR, et al. The effect of massage on growth: a clinical study. Journal of Sichuan Continuing Education College of Public Health and Managerial Sciences 2001;20(10):23. [Google Scholar]
  16. Zhu Y. Influence of touch on neurobehavioural and intelligence development of normal infants. China Medical Herald 2010;7(21):89‐91. [Google Scholar]
  17. Ineson M. The psychological and physiological effects of massage on full term 'normal' babies. Journal of the Association of Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Women's Health 1995;77:3‐7. [Google Scholar]
  18. Jing L. Effect of early environmental stimulate on infants' behaviour development. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care 2007;6:649‐50. [Google Scholar]
  19. Xiu‐hong L, Jin J, Huang J. The influence of touches on nerve and spirit and growth of normal infant. Maternal and Child Health Care of China 2002;5:299‐301. [DOI: ] [Google Scholar]
  20. Oswalt KL. Effects of Infant Massage on HIV‐Infected Mothers and their Infants [PhD thesis]. Vol. 1 online resource (vii, p 58), Birmingham, AL: University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. [Google Scholar]
  21. Pardew EM. The Effects of Infant Massage on Interactions between High Risk Infants and their Care Givers [PhD thesis]. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University, 1996. [Google Scholar]
  22. Yilmaz HB, Conk Z. The effect of massage by mothers on growth in healthy full term infants. International Journal of Human Sciences 2009;6(1):970‐7. [Google Scholar]
  23. Koniak‐Griffin D, Ludington‐Hoe S, Verzemnicks I. Longitudinal effects of unimodal and multimodal stimulation on development and interaction of healthy infants. Research in Nursing and Health 1995;18(1):27‐38. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Liu C, Liu J, Lin X. Effects of touch on growth and mentality development in normal infants. Chinese Medical Journal (Chung‐Hua i Hsueh Tsa Chih) 2001;81(23):1420‐3. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Review Manager. RevMan. Version 5.1.7. Copenhagen: The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011, 2011.
  26. Underdown A. A Realist Evaluation of the Processes and Outcomes of Infant Massage Programmes. Doctoral Thesis: University of Warwick 2010.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Bennett, C., Underdown, A., & Barlow, J.
Affiliations
  • Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (GB)
  • University of Warwick (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2013-04-30
Volume
2013
Issue
4
Pages
CD005038-CD005038
ISSN
  • 1361-6137 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-1858
DOI
10.1002/14651858.cd005038.pub3
PMC
PMC8078453
OpenAlex
W1575249088
Cited by
81
References
99
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6 · 2012: 1
FWCI
1.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Infant Development and Preterm Care
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
Keywords
infant massage, infant mental health, infant growth, infant sleep duration, infantile colic, infant stress, parent-infant interaction, infant motor development, infant language development, infant social development, infant cognitive development, infant motor control
MeSH terms
Child Development, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Massage, Mental Health, Physical Stimulation, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Therapeutic Touch

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review