Background: Phototherapy is the most important treatment for hyperbilirubinemia, there are
attempting to reduce the duration of phototherapy through application of Yakson's massage and
kangaroo mother care (KMC). Aim: to investigate the effect of Yakson's massage versus kangaroo
mother care on phototherapy duration and serum bilirubin level among neonates with
hyperbilirubinemia. Method: a quasi-experimental design was utilized. Sample: A purposive
sample of 90 neonates with hyperbilirubinemia on phototherapy was randomly allocated into three
groups: 30 control, 30 received KMC and 30 received Yakson's massage. Setting: The study was
conducted at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Pediatric University Hospital, Cairo
University Hospitals. Tools: Tool (I) Neonatal and mothers' characteristics sheet and Tool (II)
Record sheet for duration of phototherapy and total serum bilirubin level. Results: the current study
revealed that the mean differences between phototherapy duration of studied neonates in Yakson's
massage, KMC and control groups was (6.13 ± 1.19, 5.49 ± 1.60 & 7.07 ± 2.06 days) respectively P
value˂0.001. Also, the mean differences between duration of hospital stay of studied neonates in
Yakson's massage, KMC and control groups was (6.50 ± 1.08, 5.93± 1.48 & 8.17± 1.89 days)
respectively P value˂0.001. In addition, there were a highly significance difference between the
total serum bilirubin levels of studied neonates after 24, 48 and 72 hours of intervention, after 72
hours the bilirubin level in Yakson's massage group was 9.10 ± 1.62 mg/dl, KMC group was 7.20 ±
1.91 mg/dl while in the control group was 13.59 ± 3.08 mg/dl. Conclusion: The use of Yakson's
massage or KMC with phototherapy significantly reduced the serum bilirubin levels, shorten the
duration of phototherapy and hospital stay compared to use phototherapy alone and there was a
highly statistical significant difference in serum bilirubin level in application of KMC with
phototherapy compared to Yakson's massage among neonates with hyperbilirubinemia, also KMC
reduced mean duration of phototherapy and hospitalization compared to those who received
Yakson's massage with no statistical significant differences found between two interventions
groups. Recommendation: The current study recommended that, establishment of health education
program about importance of application of KMC and Yakson's massage for management of
neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.