Skip Navigation



eCAM Advance Access published online on November 3, 2006
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nel068
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
4/1/23    most recent
nel068v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Beider, S.
Right arrow Articles by Moyer, C. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Beider, S.
Right arrow Articles by Moyer, C. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2006 The Author(s).
Received March 15, 2006
Accepted August 26, 2006

Review

Randomized Controlled Trials of Pediatric Massage: A Review

Shay Beider 1 * and Christopher A. Moyer 2

1 Integrative Touch for Kids, Beverly Hills, CA, USA
2 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801-4819, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Shay Beider, E-mail: shay{at}integrativetouch.org


  Abstract

The existing reviews of massage therapy (MT) research are either limited to infants, adults, or were conducted prior to the publication of the most recent studies using pediatric samples. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of pediatric MT are reviewed. A literature search yielded 24 RCTs of pediatric MT, defined as the manual manipulation of soft tissue intended to promote health and well-being in recipients between 2 and 19 years of age. Because RCTs of pediatric MT varied considerably in the amount and types of data reported, quantitative and narrative review methods were both used. Single-dose and multiple-dose effects were examined separately. Among single-dose effects, significant reductions of state anxiety were observed at the first session (g = 0.59, P < 0.05) and the last session (g = 1.10, P < 0.01) of a course of treatment. Effects for salivary cortisol (g = 0.28), negative mood (g = 0.52) and behavior (g = 0.37) were non-significant. Three of eleven multiple-dose effects were statistically significant. These were trait anxiety (g = 0.94, P < 0.05), muscle tone (g = 0.90, P < 0.01) and arthritis pain (g = 1.33, P < 0.01). Results of studies not permitting effect size calculation were judged to be generally consistent with quantitative results. MT benefits pediatric recipients, though not as universally as sometimes reported. Numerous weaknesses endemic to MT research (e.g. low statistical power, frequent failure to report basic descriptive statistics) are identified, and recommendations for future pediatric MT research are discussed.

Keywords: CAM; child; comfort; health care; integrative medicine; kid; pain management; quality of life; touch.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Evid Based Complement Alternat MedHome page
C. A. Moyer
Between-Groups Study Designs Demand Between-Groups Analyses: A Response to Hernandez-Reif, Shor-Posner, Baez, Soto, Mendoza, Castillo, Quintero, Perez, and Zhang
Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., December 3, 2007; (2007) nem164v2.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Evid Based Complement Alternat MedHome page
J. C. I. Tsao, S. Evans, M. Meldrum, T. Altman, and L. K. Zeltzer
A Review of CAM for Procedural Pain in Infancy: Part II. Other Interventions
Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., October 25, 2007; (2007) nem089v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Evid Based Complement Alternat MedHome page
K. Livingston, S. Beider, A. J. Kant, C. C. Gallardo, M. H. Joseph, and J. I. Gold
Touch and Massage for Medically Fragile Infants
Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., August 6, 2007; (2007) nem076v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.