Trial reportBMC pediatrics2024
The effect of foot reflexology on the volume and composition of breast milk in mothers of premature infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC pediatrics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 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
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness of non-pharmacological traditional Chinese medicine therapies in promoting human milk feeding outcomes: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.International breastfeeding journal · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOne of the important problems for mothers after the birth of a premature infant is a decrease in milk production. This study aimed to investigate the effect of foot reflexology on the volume and composition of breast milk in mothers of premature infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit.
methodsThis randomized clinical trial was conducted on 76 primiparous mothers whose premature infants up to 34 weeks were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital from February 2023 to November 2023. Mothers in the intervention group received foot reflexology for 20 min on both feet (ten minutes per foot) for seven consecutive days every morning. On the first and seventh days of the study, both groups were compared in terms of milk volume (ml), triglycerides, cholesterol, albumin, total protein, and calcium (mg/dl).
resultsThe mean difference in breast milk characteristics before and after the intervention in the control and intervention groups were as follows: in terms of breast milk volume 12.43 and 23.51 ml, triglyceride 418.37 and 406.21, cholesterol 5.48 and 3.67, albumin 1.02 and 0.35, total protein 1.89 and 4.59, calcium was -3.54 and -1.83 mg/dL; the net difference in breast milk volume in the intervention group compared to the control group increased, which was not statistically significant but was significant in terms of value. No significant difference was observed in other components of breast milk.
conclusionIn this single-center study, foot reflexology massage showed a trend towards increasing the volume of breast milk, total protein and calcium, although it was not statistically significant. Therefore, it needs further investigation.
trial registrationIRCT, IRCT20221220056872N1. Registered 22 January 2023- prospective registered, https://irct.behdasht.gov.ir/trial/67512 .
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