1.1.1. Consent and screening process
Attending physicians at a large urban university Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) referred medically stable
preterm infants who met the study criteria, which included (a) gestational age between 28 and 32 weeks, (b) birthweight
between 800 and 1400 g and (c) NICU hospitalization between 15 and 60 days. These criteria follow those of other
preterm infant massage studies (see Field et al., 1986). Mothers of the preterm infants were approached about the study
when they visited their infants at the NICU. They were informed of the randomization procedure and the details of the
study and if they agreed to these, they were asked to sign a written informed consent and HIPPA form (Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act) approved by the University’s Institutional Review Board. After obtaining consent,
infants’ medical charts were reviewed for exclusion criteria, which included (a) genetic anomalies, congenital heart
malformations, and/or central nervous system dysfunction, (b) HIV infection, (c) maternal history of alcohol or illicit
drug exposure, syphilis or hepatitis B, or (d) infant surgery.