Motor Development Before and After Baby Massage Among Children Aged 0–36 Months in South Jakarta, Indonesia

Nur Anisah Muafifin; Indargairi Indargairi; Zainab Zainab

Authors

Nur Anisah Muafifin Program Studi S1 Ilmu Keperawatan, Fakultas Keperawatan dan Kebidanan, ITKES Muhammadiyah Sidrap Author
Indargairi Indargairi Program Studi S1 Ilmu Keperawatan, Fakultas Keperawatan dan Kebidanan, ITKES Muhammadiyah Sidrap Author
Zainab Zainab Program Studi S1 Ilmu Keperawatan, Fakultas Keperawatan dan Kebidanan, ITKES Muhammadiyah Sidrap Author

Keywords:

Baby Massage, Motor Development, Denver Developmental Screening Test, Early Childhood, Pretest–Posttest Study

Abstract

Motor development is central to the physical abilities that emerge in early childhood, making developmental assessment and appropriate stimulation important aspects of child health care. Although infant massage has been investigated in various populations, evidence concerning changes in motor-development classifications among children across a broad age range in community settings remains limited. This study examined motor-development classifications before and after baby massage among 30 children aged 0–36 months in Jati Padang, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, Indonesia. A pre-experimental, one-group pretest–posttest design was employed, with motor development assessed using the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST). Participants received four massage sessions over two weeks. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize developmental classifications, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied to compare pretest and posttest assessments. Before the intervention, 24 participants (80.0%) were classified as having questionable development and six (20.0%) as requiring referral. After the intervention, 19 participants (63.3%) were classified as having appropriate development, while 11 (36.7%) remained in the questionable category. The pretest–posttest difference was statistically significant (Z = −4.291, p < .001). These findings provide context-specific evidence of changes in DDST-based motor-development classifications following a brief massage intervention. However, the absence of a control group, small sample, and broad age range preclude definitive causal conclusions. Further controlled research with age-specific analyses and standardized protocols is needed to clarify the role of baby massage in early developmental stimulation.

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