Impact of parent-led massage on the sleep electroencephalogram for term-born infants

According to a recent study, parent-led massage can have an impact on the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) for term-born infants at 4 months. This study was published in the journal, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

This randomized controlled, parallel-group study enrolled 182 infants at birth, who were randomized to intervention (routine parent-led massage; n=84) and control groups (n=98). Griffiths Scales of Child Development, Third Edition was used to assess daytime sleep EEG at 4 and 18 months. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the groups for sleep stage, sleep spindles, quantitative EEG (primary analysis) and Griffiths.

It was observed that 179 out of 182 infants (intervention: 83 and control: 96) had a normal sleep EEG. Median (interquartile range) sleep duration was found to be 49.8 minutes. In the intervention and control groups, a complete first sleep cycle was seen in 67 out of 83 (81%) and 72 out of 96 (75%), respectively. Sleep spindle spectral power was found to be greater in the intervention group in main and subgroup analyses. There was no difference in the Griffiths assessments at 4 and 18 months. Massaged infants had higher sleep spindle spectral power, lower interhemispherical coherence, and greater sleep EEG magnitudes.

Based on the above results, it can be concluded that routine massage of infants may be associated with differences in sleep electroencephalogram biomarkers at 4 months, which may result in distinct functional brain changes.