按摩對嬰兒行為和生理狀態之影響

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of single massage on behavioral and physiological status of the infants who were cared at the baby home. Methods: Ten full-term infants aged between 1 and 4 months were included. Exclusion criteria included confirmed or suspected chromosomal, genetic, or neuromuscular diseases or congenital anomalies. Each infant was involved in two conditions-15 minutes of massage and play. The infants alert states and electrocardiogram recordings (ECG) were simultaneously collected 10 minutes before, during, and 20 minutes after the conditions. The low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) components and the low to high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) were then derived from the ECG data as the indicators of automatic nervous system activity. Researcher s consoling behavior during the conditions was also recorded. Results: More consoling behavior was found during the play condition than during the massage condition ( = .05). After massage, infants spent less time in the sleep states ( = .04) and longer time in the awake states ( = .01) compared to that after play. In addition, the change of the LF component from pre- to post- condition in the massage and play conditions was different ( = .02). An increase in LF power was found after massage, whereas a decrease in LF power after play. No other differences were found between the two conditions at the period of time before and that during the conditions. Conclusions: The findings suggest that infants have stable and peaceful mood during massage than play. Furthermore, single massage helps infants maintain longer awake states that may be related to the activation of sympathetic system.