ReviewFrontiers in pediatrics2023
Effects of massage therapy on preterm infants and their mothers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Review in Frontiers in pediatrics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The role of affective touch in mental illness: a systematic review of CT fiber dysregulation in psychological disorders and the therapeutic potential of CT fiber stimulation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- The Effect of Auricular Massage on Naso-Oral Suctioning Procedural Pain in Premature Neonates: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Study.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2025Trial
- Effect of tactile-kinesthetic stimulation on breastfeeding performance among preterm neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit.Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology · 2026Article
- The state of infant massage use in neonatal intensive care units.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Effect of Massage With Verbal Contact by Mothers of Premature Infants on Maternal Attachment and Infant's Motor Performance: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Health science reports · 2026Article
- 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 Effects of Infant Massage Therapy on Preterm Neonatal Outcomes: A Clinical Trial.International journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- Pediatric massage therapy in infants and children under 5 years: An umbrella review of systematic reviews.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Giving new meaning to the impact of touch in Shantala massage: mothers' perceptions of maternal and child well-being.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Massage therapy for preterm newborns has received increasing attention in recent years due to its beneficial clinical outcomes. However, disagreements persist in different investigations. Method: We performed a systematic literature search in the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Web Science, and CINAHL to retrieve randomized controlled trials of premature infants receiving massage therapy and its impact on maternal and infant outcomes. Outcomes were mother-infant attachment, oxygen saturation, motor funtion, reflex, temperature, and calorie intake. The tool developed by the Cochrane collaboration assessed risk bias. With a 95% confidence interval (CI), the integration's results were presented as the mean difference or standardized mean difference. The registration number was CRD42022337849. Results: Of 940 records retrieved, 15 trials were included. Massage therapy increased oxygen saturation (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 2.00, 95% CI [1.17 to 2.83], Conclusion: Massage therapy can significantly improve oxygen saturation and strengthen maternal-infant attachment. However, prior to making a recommendation, additional research with a larger sample size and more rigorous design should be conducted due to the heterogeneity of studies in several outcomes.
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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.