Efficacy of Massage at the End of Life
The purpose of this study is to determine whether massage therapy is effective in reducing pain and distress and improving quality of life among cancer patients at life’s end.
Description
Relieving physical and emotional symptoms is a key component of end-of-life care. Despite care, terminally ill patients are still significantly burdened by unrelieved symptoms. Therapies that have potential to alleviate these symptoms deserve thorough investigation.
This study will last 3 weeks. Participants in this study will be randomly assigned to receive six sessions of either moving or nonmoving touch therapy, in addition to usual hospice care, for 2 weeks. Moving touch therapy consists of massage therapy in which a trained therapist continually touches a person’s body. The nonmoving touch therapy will be conducted by volunteers who have no previous experience in massage. Participants in this group will have a volunteer rub specific body parts for 3-minute intervals. Because current evidence suggests that thoughts of healing may influence the effectiveness of touch therapy, volunteers in the nonmoving therapy group will distract their minds to avoid thinking of healing processes. In both groups, the person administering the touch therapy will note all interruptions during a session, including talk, music, and television. Interviews about medication use, pain, and quality of life will be used to assess participants; these interviews will be conducted at study start, immediately before and after each therapy session, and at Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
Status: Completed (Phase 2). Started on November 1st, 2003. Ended on March 1st, 2007.
Enrollment: 440 subjects
Study Type: Interventional
Study Design:
- Treatment
- Randomized
- Single Blind
- Active Control
- Parallel Assignment
- Efficacy Study
Conditions:
Interventions:
- Procedure: Moving touch therapy
- Procedure: Nonmoving touch therapy
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
Advanced cancer, with at least moderate pain 1 week prior to study entry
Life expectancy of at least 3 weeks
Able to speak English
Exclusion Criteria:
Massage therapy within 1 month prior to study entry
Current use of anticoagulants
Platelet count less than 10,000
Unstable spine that would interfere with touch therapy
- Gender
Both
- Mininum Age
18 Years
- Maximum Age
N/A
- Healthy Volunteers
No
Resources
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Authority: United States: Federal Government
Locations
-
San Diego Hospice
San Diego
California
92103
United States
-
University of Colorado Cancer Center
Denver
Colorado
80262
United States
-
Hospice of St. John
Lakewood
Colorado
80215
United States
-
Pike's Peak Hospice and Palliative Care
Colorado Springs
Colorado
80903
United States
-
Pathways at Hospice of Metro Denver
Denver
Colorado
80246
United States
-
Hope Hospice and Palliative Care
Fort Myers
Florida
33908
United States
-
LifePath Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc.
Tampa
Florida
33609
United States
-
Hospice Care in the Berkshires, Inc.
Pittsfield
Massachusetts
01201
United States
-
Hospice at Charlotte
Charlotte
North Carolina
28204
United States
Officials
Jean S. Kutner, MD (Principal Investigator, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center)
Marlaine Smith, RN, PhD (Principal Investigator, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center)
Sponsors
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (Lead Sponsor)
References
None.
Links
- Date Verified
- January 1st, 2008
- First Received
- January 23rd, 2008
- Last Changed
- January 23rd, 2008
Information obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov on July 15, 2008. Link to the current ClinicalTrials.gov record.
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