Based on a study conducted by Prof. Jean Kutner
Jean S. Kutner, MD is the Chief Medical Officer at UCHealth/University of Colorado Hospital and a Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She has published over 170 manuscripts and frequently presents to academic and lay audiences. In this article, we summarise the findings of her research paper, “Massage therapy versus simple touch to improve pain and mood in patients with advanced cancer: a randomized trial”.
More and more medical treatment programmes are including therapeutic massage to promote quality of life, increase coping skills, and lessen symptom severity. Therapeutic massage helps cancer patients manage their symptoms and improves mental health.
Objective: Evaluation of massage's effectiveness in reducing pain and symptom distress and enhancing quality of life in people with advanced cancer is the goal.
Settings: Population-based Palliative Care Research Network is the setting.
Sample: 380 adult patients with advanced cancer who were in moderate to severe pain; 90% were hospice patients.
Procedure: Simple-touch therapy or six 30-minute massage treatments spread out over two weeks.
Fundamentally, this was composed of two sections. Primary outcome phase 1 was the first section, which measured changes in the way pain felt using a scale from 1 to 10. Immediate results were included in this section. The Memorial Pain Assessment Card, or MPAC, was the name of this 0–10 scale.
Phase 2 of the primary outcome included a sustained result, which was also evaluated using the BPI or Brief Pain Inventory and was graded on a scale of 1 to 10. On a scale of 1 to 10, the secondary outcomes were observed, and the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire's characteristics showed a shift in heart rate.
Here, symptom distress was measured using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS), which ranges from 1-4. However, parenteral morphine equivalents were administered as an analgesic, and the outcomes were documented in order to compare the change to that caused by pharmacological intervention. The sustained outcomes were shown to be true for 348 patients, while the immediate outcomes were true for 298 patients.
Results: The research revealed that the original hypothesis was validated. The study gave the scientists confidence that the application of messaging in the context of advanced cancer was beneficial.
However, because sustainability was absent from the study, it was decided that this message usage should only be used to temporarily lessen discomfort. However, according to the hypothesis, this was already presupposed at the formulation phase.
Conclusion: For patients with advanced cancer, massage may have immediate positive effects on pain and mood. The possible advantages of attention and gentle touch should also be taken into account in this patient population given the lack of long-lasting effects and the observed improvements in both research groups.
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