Background

Infant massage, in which mothers stroke their infant’s skin slowly and gently, can cause pleasant sensations in the infant that can be affected by the velocity of massage. However, the massage velocity at which infants feel the most pleasant sensations remains unclear.

Objective

To investigate the effects of massage velocity on heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) in healthy infants.

Method

Twenty-two infant-mother dyads two to seven months of age were recruited. Mothers stroked their infant’s skin at three massage velocities (5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 cm/s) in a randomized order for 15 min. The rhythm of massage velocity was calculated according to the length of three body areas. The massage velocity of the mothers was regulated using a metronome. HR and HRV (high frequency [HF] and low frequency [LF]) were measured at rest and during massage for each velocity. The effects on pleasantness were evaluated using percent change in median baseline value compared with median values for the three massage velocities. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance mixed effect models to exclude “period” and “carryover” effects during massage.

Results

When measuring HF, massage (7.5 cm/s) caused a significant increase in pleasantness compared with 10.0 cm/s (p = 0.04). The HR and LF/HF ratio were not significantly changed between velocities.

Conclusion

Results of this study suggested that a massage velocity of 7.5 cm/s was the most pleasant for infants. Future research should investigate the relationship between an infant massage by optimal velocity and infant development in longitudinal studies.

中文翻译：

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按摩速度对健康婴儿心率和心率变异性的影响：一项随机交叉研究

背景

婴儿按摩，其中母亲缓慢而轻柔地抚摸婴儿的皮肤，可以使婴儿产生愉悦的感觉，而这种感觉会受到按摩速度的影响。然而，婴儿感到最愉快的按摩速度仍不清楚。

客观的

研究按摩速度对健康婴儿心率 (HR) 和心率变异性 (HRV) 的影响。

方法

招募了 22 名 2 至 7 个月大的婴儿-母亲。母亲以随机顺序以三种按摩速度（5.0、7.5 和 10.0 cm/s）抚摸婴儿的皮肤 15 分钟。根据身体三个部位的长度计算按摩速度的节律。使用节拍器调节母亲的按摩速度。HR 和 HRV（高频 [HF] 和低频 [LF]）在静息和按摩期间针对每个速度进行测量。使用中值基线值与三种按摩速度的中值相比的百分比变化来评估对愉悦度的影响。使用方差混合效应模型分析进行统计分析，以排除按摩过程中的“周期”和“遗留”效应。

结果

在测量 HF 时，与 10.0 cm/s (p = 0.04) 相比，按摩 (7.5 cm/s) 使愉悦感显着增加。HR 和 LF/HF 比率在速度之间没有显着变化。

结论

这项研究的结果表明，7.5 厘米/秒的按摩速度对婴儿来说是最愉快的。未来的研究应该在纵向研究中调查最佳速度的婴儿按摩与婴儿发育之间的关系。