Trial reportBMC pediatrics2016
PREMM: preterm early massage by the mother: protocol of a randomised controlled trial of massage therapy in very preterm infants.
Trial report in BMC pediatrics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Neonatal Therapeutic Touch and Massage in Very Preterm and Extremely Preterm Neonates: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Ultrasound Monitoring of Muscle Thickness in Premature Patients Undergoing Infant Massage: Experience in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early developmental intervention programmes provided post hospital discharge to prevent motor and cognitive impairment in preterm infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- A feasibility randomized controlled trial of a NICU rehabilitation program for very low birth weight infants.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Impact of teach-back-based training on maternal discharge readiness and the readmission of preterm infants admitted to the NICU: a quasi-experimental study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- fNIRS Feasibility to Measure Brain Oxygenation Patterns of the Motor Cortex in Relation to Massage and Reflex Locomotion Therapy in Babies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- The effect of participation education on maternal role adaptation in mothers with premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.Journal of education and health promotion · 2024Article
- Diagnostic accuracy of the Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination in predicting motor outcome at 12 months for infants born very preterm.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2023Article
- Effects of massage therapy on preterm infants and their mothers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- Feasibility of Early Intervention Through Home-Based and Parent-Delivered Infant Massage in Infants at High Risk for Cerebral Palsy.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Article
- Effects of massage on newborn infants with jaundice: A meta-analysis.International journal of nursing sciences · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPreterm infants follow an altered neurodevelopmental trajectory compared to their term born peers as a result of the influence of early birth, and the altered environment. Infant massage in the preterm infant has shown positive effects on weight gain and reduced length of hospital stay. There is however, limited current evidence of improved neurodevelopment or improved attachment, maternal mood or anxiety. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of infant massage performed by the mother in very preterm (VPT) infants. Effects on the infant will be assessed at the electrophysiological, neuroradiological and clinical levels. Effects on maternal mood, anxiety and mother-infant attachment will also be measured. METHODS/
designA randomised controlled trial to investigate the effect of massage therapy in VPT infants. Sixty VPT infants, born at 28 to 32 weeks and 6 days gestational age, who are stable, off supplemental oxygen therapy and have normal cranial ultrasounds will be recruited and randomised to an intervention (infant massage) group or a control (standard care) group. Ten healthy term born infants will be recruited as a reference comparison group. The intervention group will receive standardised massage therapy administered by the mother from recruitment, until term equivalent age (TEA). The control group will receive care as usual (CAU). Infants and their mothers will be assessed at baseline, TEA, 12 months and 24 months corrected age (CA), with a battery of clinical, neuroimaging and electrophysiological measures, as well as structured questionnaires, psychoanalytic observations and neurodevelopmental assessments. DISCUSSION: Optimising preterm infant neurodevelopment is a key aim of neonatal research, which could substantially improve long-term outcomes and reduce the socio-economic impact of VPT birth. This study has the potential to give insights into the mother-baby relationship and any positive effects of infant massage on neurodevelopment. An early intervention such as massage that is relatively easy to administer and could alter the trajectory of preterm infant brain development, holds potential to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes in this vulnerable population.
trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12612000335897 . Date registered: 22/3/2012.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.