title: Multisensory intervention improves physical growth and illness rates in Korean orphaned newborn infants.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a multisensory intervention on the physical growth and health of Korean orphaned infants. Fifty-eight full-term infants were randomly assigned to a control (n = 28) or an experimental (n = 30) group within 14 days postbirth. In addition to receiving the routine orphanage care, infants in the experimental group received 15 min of auditory (female voice), tactile (massage), and visual (eye-to-eye contact) stimulation twice a day, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks. Compared to the control group, the experimental group had gained significantly more weight and had larger increases in length and head circumference after the 4-week intervention period and at 6 months of age. In addition, the experimental group had significantly fewer illnesses and clinic visits. These data demonstrate that multisensory intervention in conjunction with human/social contact may be effective in facilitating growth for newborn infants placed in orphanages.
authors.affiliation: Daejeon University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Im
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeong Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Rosemary C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: White-Traut
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000523:psychology; D006128:Growth; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008405:Massage / Q000379:methods; D019372:Orphanages; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods