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Research: HUHTALA and colleagues, D
Listed in Issue 56
Abstract
HUHTALA and colleagues, Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland. virpi.susanna.huhtala@utu.fi conducted a clinical trial comparing infant massage with a crib vibrator for colic.
Background
Methodology
Colicky infants of less than 7 weeks of age were randomly assigned to an infant massage group (n = 28) or a crib vibrator group (n = 30). Treatments were recommended three times daily. Parents recorded infant crying and number of treatments given in a structured cry diary that was kept for one week before (baseline) and for three weeks during the treatments. Parents were interviewed after the first and third weeks of intervention to obtain their evaluation of the effectiveness of the given treatment.
Results
At baseline, the mean amount of total crying was 3.6 ±1.4 hours/day in the massage group and 4.2 ±2.0 hours/day in the vibrator group. The mean amount of colicky crying was 2.1± 1.1 hours/day and 2.9 ±1.5 hours/day, respectively. The mean number of daily intervention periods was 2.2 in both groups. The amount of total and colicky crying decreased significantly in both groups: 48% (massage) and 47% (vibrator), and colicky crying decreased by 64% and 52%, respectively. The amount of other crying (total crying minus colicky crying) remained stable in both groups during the treatment period. Ninety-three percent of the parents in both groups reported that colic symptoms decreased over the 3-week treatment period with 61% of the parents in the massage group and 63% of the parents in the crib vibrator group perceiving the 3-week treatment period as colic reducing.
Conclusion
Infant massage was comparable to the use of a crib vibrator in reducing crying in colicky infants. The authors suggest that the decrease of total and colicky crying in the present study reflects more the natural course of early infant crying and colic than a specific effect of the massage or crib vibrator.
References
Huhtala V et al. Infant massage compared with crib vibrator in the treatment of colicky infants. Pediatrics 105(6): E84. Jun 2000.
