THE EFFECT OF TACTILE-KINESTHETIC STIMULATION ON REFLEX STATE OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT NEONATES HOSPITALIZED IN NICU

Low birth weight (LBW) infants need complementary interventions like massage because they are very fragile. Tactile Kinesthetic Stimulation is a kind of massage with passive joint motion that has very benefits for infants. LBW prevalence in our country has been reported 10% and these infants would have many developmental problems and dysfunction in future. The present study was done to determine the effect of Tactile-Kinesthetic Stimulation (TKS) in the reflex state of LBW neonates. This research was a clinical trial study in which 40 LBW neonates were randomly allocated into test (20) and control (20) groups. TKS was provided for three 15 minute periods per day for 10 consecutive days to the test group، with the massages consisting of moderate pressure strokes in supine and prone position، and kinesthetic exercises consisting of flexion and extension of limbs. All measurements were taken before and after completion of the study with the same equipment and by the same person. Results indicated that reflex state in the intervention group was not significantly higher than that in the control group after the 10 days TKS. TKS is not an effective intervention in reflex state of LBW neonates during the first days of life. Comparing this result with those of other researches، more studies need to be done in this field.