Effects of Massage Therapy on the Development of Babies Born with Down Syndrome

Abstract

Objective. To determine the short-term effects of infant massage on the development of Down syndrome babies. Materials and Methods. The study compared two groups (intervention and control), each with 16 babies with Down syndrome between 4 and 8 months old. The variables developmental age and developmental quotient were measured at two distinct time points, at pretest and after 5 weeks, using the Brunet-Lézine Early Childhood Psychomotor Development revised scale. This scale measures the variables of age and development quotient in a partial way (motor, visual-motor coordination, language, and social development) and in a global way. The experimental group received infant massage, applied by the parents, during these 5 weeks, every day for at least 10 minutes. The massage protocol was based on the methodology created by Vimala McClure. The control group received it after 5 weeks. Results. All developmental variables were improved in the experimental group but not in the control group. There were significant differences in developmental age between the two groups, and this outcome was better in the experimental group (p<0.001). The 2-by-2 mixed-model analysis of variance indicates a statistically significant group-by-time interaction for all development quotients, both partial and global (p<0.001), which was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group. Conclusion. Infant massage therapy improves the development of babies with Down syndrome in the short term.

Newborn screening for neurodevelopmental diseases: Are we there yet?

“…Rarely, there are effective treatments available such as the ketogenic diet for glucose transporter 1 deficiency syndrome (Klepper et al, 2020). While none of the supportive treatments available are curative for most NDDs, early intervention has been demonstrated to improve outcomes for Down Syndrome and other NDDs (Fidler et al, 2021;Guralnick, 2010Guralnick, , 2011Pinero-Pinto et al, 2020;Wojcik et al, 2020). Furthermore, in the conceptual framework established with SMA, the concurrent pilot NBS study and clinical trial with nusinersen were structured to co-evolve, enabling early identification of newborns during a critical therapeutic window in which treatments were most efficacious.…”

This Is My Baby Interview: An Adaptation to the Spanish Language and Culture

“…Sixteen parents were assigned to a group that would receive massage therapy and the other sixteen were assigned to a control group that did not receive this intervention. This massage intervention consisted of five one-hour sessions, once per week, where the parents were taught the different infant massage maneuvers [ 4 ]. The allocation to the groups was done blindly and the interviewers were also blinded to the randomization of the groups.…”

“…Different studies on Down syndrome performed in natural environments [ 1 , 3 ] demonstrate the importance of the interactions between parents and their infants with Down syndrome. Some authors [ 1 , 4 , 5 ] considered that if mother–baby interaction is promoted during early intervention by professionals, it is possible to improve the cognitive and motor development quotient of babies with Down syndrome. Parents who have followed the family-centered model during the intervention say that, by spending more time on the maturational development of their children with Down syndrome, it has been easier to accept their baby’s disability situation, as they have committed to the intervention and have realized that they can influence their baby [ 6 ].…”

“…In this sense, evaluations of the mental health of parents [ 7 , 17 ] and the impact of the arrival of a child with Down syndrome on the family [ 6 ] have been developed, although there are no evaluations of how parents accept the new situation and commit to the baby. Although parents of children with Down syndrome directly influence the development of the latter [ 1 , 4 ], it is known that the emotional state of the parents is a dynamic process that changes over time [ 12 , 14 ]. The awareness of the influence of parents of typically developing children is high in relation to their role in their children’s development [ 18 ]; however, there are no studies that describe the awareness of the influence of parents with children with Down syndrome.…”

Affective touch in the context of development, oxytocin signaling, and autism

“…To date, no oxytocin intervention trials in ASD have assessed whether it alters either neural or behavioral responses to tactile stimuli and future studies will need to address this. In terms of other developmental disorders, pediatric massage has been reported to facilitate psychomotor development in infants with Down syndrome or cerebral palsy (Silva et al, 2012;Purpura et al, 2014;Pinero-Pinto et al, 2020), although again further large-scale controlled trials are needed to confirm this. Overall, there is increasing evidence for the importance of tactile stimuli via affective CT-fiber cutaneous receptors for typical development of both brain and behavior and that many of its effects are likely mediated via facilitation of growth factor, oxytocin, and opioid systems.…”