Effects of Infant Massage Therapy on Transcutaneous Bilirubin, Feeding, and Excretion in Neonates with Jaundice Undergoing Phototherapy

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This paper reports the results of a massage therapy on transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) in the forehead and inguinal regions, feeding intake, urine amount, and defecation frequency for neonates with jaundice who are receiving phototherapy. METHODS: A non-equivalent control group, pre-post, quasi-experimental design was used. Participants were 33 neonates with jaundice admitted for phototherapy and were randomly assigned to one of two groups—an experimental group (n=16), which received 3 days of routine plus 15 minutes of massage three times a day, and a control group (n=17), which received the routine care only. Data were analyzed using χ²-test and Mann-Whitney U test with SPSS 21.0 Win program. RESULTS: On the second day of hospitalization, the experimental group showed significantly lower TcB in the inguinal region (Z=−2.12, p=0.017); on the third day, the experimental group showed significantly lower TcB in the inguinal region (Z=−2.31, p=0.011) and higher defecation frequency (Z=−2.22, p=0.013) compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings suggest that massage for jaundice neonates receiving phototherapy is an effective intervention to reduce TcB in the inguinal region and to increase defecation frequency.