Clinical effect of Rougan Tongdu combined with point-pressing massage therapy on children at high risk of delayed motor development

Background: Delayed motor development (DMD) is an extremely common development disorder in children. Multiple factors, including mother's influence, diseases, physical or chemical factors and trauma, are strongly associated with DMD. Infancy is a key period in the development of neuromotor function. For children who are at high risk of DMD, early clinical intervention can, to a certain extent, reverse and repair the damaged function of the brain, improving the child's prognosis and their quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Rougan Tongdu combined with point-pressing massage therapy (RT-PMT) in children at high risk of DMD.

Methods: Between March 2017 and March 2019, a total of 63 children at high risk of DMD were admitted and treated with RT-PMT in our hospital. These children were divided into three intervention groups (IGs) based on their age in months: IG I (22, 0-3 months), IG II (25, 4-6 months), and IG III (16, 7-12 months). An additional 63 healthy age-matched children were enrolled as a control group (CG) and split into the CG I (0-3 months), CG II (4-6 months), and CG III (7-12 months). All of the children underwent Gesell Infant Development Scale (GESELL) examination both before and three months after intervention and the motor function was scored.

Results: After 3 months of RT-PMT, the gross motor function scores in the three IGs were 88.55±8.56, 81.83±7.95, and 78.89±7.52, respectively. Fine motor function scores in the three IGs were 89.12±6.45, 82.32±6.78, and 78.18±6.69, respectively. Total motor function scores in the three IGs were 89.85±7.20, 82.65±7.05, and 79.52±7.16, respectively. The differences between the scores before and after intervention were statistically significant (all P<0.05). The improvements in the gross, fine, and total motor function scores in IG I were better than those in the other two IGs (P<0.05), and the clinical curative effect in IG I, II, and III was 95.5%, 80.0% and 62.6%, respectively. The clinical curative effect in IG I was better than those in the other groups (P<0.05).

Conclusions: RT-PMT is beneficial for children at high risk of DMD.