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| Author/Association: | Bervoets DC, Luijsterburg PAJ, Alessie JJN, Buijs MJ, Verhagen AP |
| Title: | Massage therapy has short-term benefits for people with common musculoskeletal disorders compared to no treatment: a systematic review [with consumer summary] |
| Source: | Journal of Physiotherapy 2015 Jul;61(3):106-116 |
| Method: | systematic review |
| Method Score: | This is a systematic review. Systematic reviews are not rated. |
| Consumer Summary: | WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC: Musculoskeletal disorders cause pain and disability in a substantial proportion of the population. Existing systematic reviews of massage for these disorders do not include several relevant trials and some do not distinguish the effect of massage from other manual therapies. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Massage reduces pain, in the short term, in shoulder pain and osteoarthritis of the knee. Massage improves function, in the short term, in shoulder pain, low back pain and osteoarthritis of the knee. Massage is not clearly more or less beneficial that other commonly used treatments for musculoskeletal disorders. |
| Abstract: | QUESTION: Is massage therapy effective for people with musculoskeletal disorders compared to any other treatment or no treatment? DESIGN: Systematic review of randomised clinical trials. PARTICIPANTS: People with musculoskeletal disorders. INTERVENTIONS: Massage therapy (manual manipulation of the soft tissues) as a stand-alone intervention. OUTCOME: The primary outcomes were pain and function. RESULTS: The 26 eligible randomised trials involved 2,565 participants. The mean sample size was 95 participants (range 16 to 579) per study; 10 studies were considered to be at low risk of bias. Overall, low-to-moderate-level evidence indicated that massage reduces pain in the short term compared to no treatment in people with shoulder pain and osteoarthritis of the knee, but not in those with low back pain or neck pain. Furthermore, low-to-moderate-level evidence indicated that massage improves function in the short term compared to no treatment in people with low back pain, knee arthritis or shoulder pain. Low-to-very-low-level evidence from single studies indicated no clear benefits of massage over acupuncture, joint mobilisation, manipulation or relaxation therapy in people with fibromyalgia, low back pain and general musculoskeletal pain. CONCLUSIONS: Massage therapy, as a stand-alone treatment, reduces pain and improves function compared to no treatment in some musculoskeletal conditions. When massage is compared to another active treatment, no clear benefit was evident. Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):  help |
