Providing massage therapy for people with advanced cancer: what to expect.

There is very little information in the literature to prepare massage therapists for what they might expect when they provide treatment to people with advanced cancer in hospice or palliative care. We report an analysis of a subset of data collected from a large multi-site clinical trial of the efficacy of massage therapy for people with advanced cancer. This is the first analysis of empirical data of patient presentation, massage treatment environment, and the characteristics of massage provided for this population.

Massage therapy versus simple touch to improve pain and mood in patients with advanced cancer: a randomized trial.

Background: Small studies of variable quality suggest that massage therapy may relieve pain and other symptoms.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of massage for decreasing pain and symptom distress and improving quality of life among persons with advanced cancer.

Design: Multisite, randomized clinical trial.

Developing treatment and control conditions in a clinical trial of massage therapy for advanced cancer.

The purpose of this article is to describe the challenges faced by a research team in developing treatment and control conditions in a study of the efficacy of massage therapy for advanced cancer. Five design considerations were addressed related to developing a massage therapy protocol: (1) dosage, that is, the number, spacing and length of treatments; (2) type of massage therapy; (3) degree to which the protocol for the treatment is standardized; (4) qualifications of the persons providing the treatment; and (5) conditions under which the treatment is provided. Five criteria for structuring the control condition of the study are elaborated: (1) equivalency of contact; (2) similarity of form; (3) minimum adverse or negative effects; (4) expectancy of therapeutic benefit; and (5) minimum therapeutic benefit.

Outcomes of therapeutic massage for hospitalized cancer patients.

Purpose: To examine the effects of therapeutic massage on perception of pain, subjective sleep quality, symptom distress, and anxiety in patients hospitalized for treatment of cancer.

Organizing Construct: Rogers' Science of Unitary Human Beings and Watson's theory of human caring.

Methods: Quasiexperimental.