Massage is one of the most commonly employed non-pharmacological nursing interventions for managing pain among cancer patients. However, the results of clinical trials are inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the efficacy of massage in adult patients with cancer from a methodological approach. A total of 15 studies published in English between 1986 and 2004 were identified by searching six electronic databases. An author-developed tool and an adapted assessment tool were employed to extract information from each study and examine the quality of reviewed studies. Methodological issues that potentially account for discrepancies across studies included: less rigorous inclusion criteria, failure to consider potential confounding variables, less than rigorous research designs, inconsistent massage doses and protocols, measurement errors related to sensitivity of instruments and timing of measurements, and inadequate statistical power.   Areas for future study include determination of appropriate cutoff values of selected outcome measures, delivery of equal doses along with standardized massage protocols, examination of length of massage effects over time, and employment of single-blinding randomized clinical trials with large sample sizes. For safety, researchers and clinicians need to consider modification of the massage protocol or exclusion of patients with any contraindications to massage therapy.

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See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)