TAKING THE FIRST STEPS
A pilot study conducted in the Cancer Clinic at Shands Hospital at the
University of Florida measured the physical and mental effects of massage
therapy on 30 children with cancer and/or blood disease. The hypothesis
was that massage therapy would have measurable benefits, both
physically and mentally.
The study used a randomized controlled trial, with 15 children in
the treatment group who received massage therapy as intervention,
and 15 children in the control group who did not receive any
massage-related treatment.
Measures of physical and mental well-being were completed before
and after four massage therapy sessions. Inpatient treatment participants
received one 20-minute Swedish massage session per day
for four consecutive days. Outpatient treatment participants received
one 20-minute Swedish massage session once a week for four weeks.
Thirty participants were randomly chosen from patients being cared
for by the pediatric hematology and oncology division of the University
of Florida. There were eight females and seven males in the control
group and seven females and eight males in the treatment group, all
between the ages of six months and 17. There were 14 inpatient and 16
outpatient participants.
Physiological measures included a muscle tension scale to assess
muscle soreness before and after each session. The range was from 1
to 5, with 1 indicating “my muscles feel really good” and 5 indicating
“my muscles feel really sore.” The Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ)
parent form17 was also used before treatment and upon completion
of the entire series of massage sessions. General health, physical
function and bodily pain were assessed. Standard methods were
used to record blood pressure, respiratory rate and pulse rate before
and after each session.
Psychological measures included the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory
for Children18 to record levels of both situational and characteristic
anxiety. Overall quality of life was measured using a “How I Feel” wellness
scale, ranging from a 1, indicating “I feel really good,” to a 5, indicating “I
do not feel good at all.” Discomfort levels ranging from a low of 0 to a high
of 4 were also recorded after each session.
At the end of the second, third and fourth session, progress from each
treatment or control session was reported by the patient on a scale of 0 to
10, 0 meaning no progress and 10 meaning maximal progress. Progress was
defined as the patient feeling better overall, with less pain and tension. For
participants unable to respond because of their age or illness, parents gave
subjective answers based on their observations of their child.
Differences between the treatment group and control group were examined
using a 2 x 2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare before and
after scores for significant differences between and within the treatment
and control groups. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ .05. In cases
of significant ANOVA findings, post-hoc analysis using Scheffe Multiple
Comparisons tests were conducted to identify the source of significant differences
between groups. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine
differences in progress from each treatment between the two groups.
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American Massage Therapy Association®
