A pilot study of parents' experiences of reflexology treatment for infants with colic in Finland.
Leena Hannula, Pauli Puukka, Marjut Asunmaa and 1 others
PMID 31747081WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of 35 Finnish infants with colic found reflexology sessions, parent discussion and home advice pleasant and relaxing, and reported less crying, stress and parenting strain.
Without a control group, this cannot show the intervention caused improvement.
Key findings
01After treatment, 15 infants had no colic symptoms, and in the 20 infants whose symptoms continued, crying fell from 4.25 to 2.80 hours per day.
02Parents reported postpartum stress scores fell from 2.15 to 1.85 overall, but the reduction was mainly in infants whose colic disappeared.
03Parents rated the treatment as relaxing and pleasant, not painful or scary, and rated the reflexologist as friendly, professional and unhurried.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
There was no control group or randomisation, so improvement cannot be separated from time, extra attention, parent discussion or home advice. The sample was small and self-selected: 35 infants were included, and questionnaires were distributed to 33 parents. Most outcomes were parent-reported, and parents knew their infant received the treatment. The paper treated p values between 0.05 and 0.1 as statistically symptomatic, so borderline findings may be chance. The intervention included reflexology sessions, discussion and a home advice leaflet, so no single component can be credited. Groups were formed after treatment based on whether parents said colic symptoms continued, not before the intervention.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude reflexology treats infant colic. This pilot had no control group, and the intervention also included parent discussion and home advice, so improvement cannot be attributed to reflexology alone.