In the Harrison et al study,28 3 infants were randomly
assigned to the gentle touch experimental (E) group, and 3
were assigned to a control (C) group. Infants in the E group
had fewer total days on supplemental oxygen, greater mean
daily weight gain, decreased serum cortisol levels, fewer
blood transfusions, and fewer days in the hospital. However,
this finding may be due to the fact that group E infants
had slightly higher GAs and birth weights. There were no
differences between group E and group C infants on any
of these variables in the other 2 studies of gentle touch that
were conducted by Harrison and colleagues. The samples in
these studies included 30 and 84 infants, respectively