International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (IJTMB)
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Growing New Zealand Research Capability Using Degree-Based Education: a Commentary After 20 Years of Massage Therapy Graduates
No full textAs massage therapy educators, we started with a desire to cement a place for massage therapy as a legitimate and viable health service. A bachelor degree, underpinned by research-informed education, was the selected mode. In December 2023, our 20th cohort of bachelor degree students will graduate. This commentary describes and reflects on progress towards developing research capability, and en-gagement in and promotion of massage therapy research to learners and practitio-ners of massage therapy in New Zealand
The Effect of ISBT-Bowen Therapy in the Treatment of Myofascial Neck Pain—a Randomized, Single-Blinded Clinical Trial
No full textBackground: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is the most common diagnosis in patient presenting with chronic nonspecific neck pain. It affects people’s work performance, productivity, and quality of life. To date, there is little research evaluating the effectiveness of non-invasive techniques, such as ISBT-Bowen Therapy in managing neck MPS.
Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of Bowen therapy in managing myofascial pain syndrome with symptoms lasting for more than six weeks. The study will also examine the long-term effect of ISBT-Bowen Therapy on functional enhancement, quality of life, and physical and mental well-being.
Methods: This is a prospective, single-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT). A total of 90 myofascial neck pain patients were recruited and randomized to receive 8 sessions of ISBT-Bowen Therapy over a 12-week period (n = 45) or to continue their usual conventional treatment (n = 45). Pressure pain threshold (PPT), cervical range of motion (CROM), numerical rating pain scores, Neck Disability Index (NDI), SF-12 Health Survey (SF-12) Version 2, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD7), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) were measured at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks after baseline.
Results: When compared with the control group, PPT significantly increased after ISBT-Bowen Therapy at 12 and 24 weeks. CROM on flexion, lateral flexion, and rotation were greatly improved at 12 weeks after Bowen therapy, and maintained at 24 weeks, except left lateral flexion. NDI, GAD7, and PHQ9 were all reduced after Bowen Therapy at both 12 and 24 weeks. Both Physical and Mental Component Summary scores of SF-12 were improved after Bowen therapy at 12 and 24 weeks.
Conclusions: This study confirmed the efficacy of ISBT-Bowen Therapy for patients with MPS. It alleviates pain, improves functional outcomes, enhances quality of life, and relieves mood symptoms
The Development, Validity, and Responsiveness of a Patient-Centred Outcome Measurement Tool for Evaluating Integrative Medicine Interventions
No full textBackground: The paper sets out the development, validity, and responsiveness of the Integrative Medicine Treatment Evaluation Form (IMTEF), which has been designed to measure the effects of complementary and integrative therapy (CIT) interventions in cancer and palliative care (PC) patients in a National Health Service (NHS) hospital setting. Treatment evaluation is essential for ensuring safety and quality of services, for meeting NHS governance requirements. It also helps to add to the evidence base for complementary and integrative therapies through collecting data about treatments.
Methods: A number of different Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) tools were reviewed in order to design the IMTEF, which details questions that captures both quantitative and qualitative data. The IMTEF was reviewed by patients and a range of health care practitioners.
Results: IMTEF’s validity is supported by feedback from health care practitioners and patients, by its ability to detect different degrees of change in relation to change scores, and by its correlations with Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores.
Conclusion: The IMTEF can be used to assess the effects of therapeutic bodywork and CITs when many of the patients do not have the capacity or the time to answer many questions, and when therapists do not know in advance the number of treatments that patients will be able to receive. Because of the way it is structured, it can also assess the effects after a number of sessions
Greetings from the New Executive Editor
No full textThis editorial marks a change in the Edi-torial Board of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. The new Executive Editor/Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Amanda Baskwill, shares her gratitude for the outgoing journal leadership, an-nounces new Editorial Board staff, and identifies two initiatives for 2023
A Rebuttal to Perpetuating Victimization with Efforts to Reduce Human Trafficking: a Call to Action for Massage Therapist Protection
No full textThis document is a rebuttal to Perpetuating Victimization with Efforts to Reduce Human Trafficking: a Call to Action for Massage Therapist Protection by Rosenow and Munk that appeared in the March issue. The paper is to be applauded for providing a massage therapist’s viewpoint on the issue of human trafficking guised as massage, and concisely summarizing the main impact on the profession. The solutions involved, however, are problematic, as is the underlying view that licensing practitioners and their businesses is de-signed to protect the massage therapist and trafficking victims. Finally, this commentary suggests a regulatory solution that should be implemented for any re-porting process to be successful
Efficacy of Massage on Pain Intensity in Post-Cesarean Women: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
No full textBackground: Cesarean section is a common surgical procedure that may be considered a safe alternative to natural birth and helps to resolve numerous obstetric conditions. Still, the Cesarean section is painful; relieving pain after a Cesarean section is crucial, therefore analgesia is necessary for the postoperative period. However, analgesia is not free of complications and contraindications, so massage may be a cost-effective method for decreasing pain post-Cesarean. Our study aims to determine the massage role in pain intensity after Cesarean sections.
Methods: We searched five electronic databases for relevant studies. Data were extracted from the included studies after screening procedures. We calculated the pooled mean difference (MD) and standardized mean difference (SMD) for our continuous outcomes, using random or fixed-effect meta-analysis according to heterogenicity status. Interventional studies were assessed for methodological quality using the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool, while observational studies were assessed using the National Institutes of Health’s tools.
Results: Our study included 10 RCTs and five observational studies conducted with over 1,595 post-Cesarean women. The pooled MDs for pain intensity considering baseline values either immediately or post 60-90 minutes were favoring the massage group over the control group as follows:(stand. MD = -2.64, 95% CI [-3.80, -1.48], p > .00001; MD = -2.64, 95% CI [-3.80, -1.48], p > .00001, respectively). While pooled MDs regarding post-intervention only either immediately or post 60-90 minutes were:(stand. MD = -2.04, 95% CI [-3.26, -0.82], p = .001; stand. MD = -2.62, 95% CI [-3.52, -1.72], p > .00001, respectively).
Conclusion: Our study found that using massage was superior to the control groups in decreasing pain intensity either when the pain was assessed immediately after or 60-90 minutes post-massage application
How Should We Recognize the Important Role of the Peer Reviewer?
No full textPeer reviewers are instrumental to the publication of high-quality scholarly manuscripts. However, there are challenges within current models, including how best to recognize (and reward) reviewers for their contribution. The International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork Editorial Team is committed to enhancing the peer-review process in 2023 and invites colleagues to become reviewers
Massage Therapy May be Safe and Reduce Pain in Critically Ill Patients with Acute Neurological Injury: a Case Control Study
No full textPurpose: Massage therapy is an important adjunctive treatment for physiologic and psychologic symptoms and has been shown to benefit patients among a wide variety of patient populations.
Setting: Few studies have investigated the utility of massage therapy in the general ICU setting, and even fewer have done so in the neurological ICU (NeuroICU).
Research Design: If massage therapy was determined to improve objective outcomes—or even subjective outcomes in the absence of harm—massage may be more readily employed as a complementary therapy, particularly in the ICU setting or in patients with acute neuro-logical injury.
Intervention: This pilot study aimed to assess the safety of massage in the neurocritical care unit and its impact on patient vital signs, subjective pain assessment, and other clinical outcomes.
Participants: Twenty-one patients who received massage therapy during admission to the neurocritical care service were compared to matched controls in a retrospective case control study design.
Results: We found a statistically significant reduction in pain scores among patients with acute neurological injury who received massage therapy. There was no statistical difference in hospital length of stay, discharge destination, in-hospital mortality, adverse events, or incidence/duration of delirium between patients who received massage therapy and those who did not. No adverse events were ascribed to the massage therapy when evaluated by blinded neurocritical care specialists.
Conclusion: This study found that massage therapy may be safe for many patients in the NeuroICU and may offer additional subjective benefits
Development of a Novel Massage Therapy Outcome Measure for Children and Young Adults Receiving Hematopoietic Cell Transplant
No full textBackground: Children receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) often experience an unfortunate sequalae of negative effects including pain, deconditioning, and anxiety. Massage therapy (MT) has demonstrated effective non-pharmacological management of fatigue, pain, and anxiety in patients undergoing cancer treatment. Existing studies have been limited by the lack of available MT-specific outcome measures to track responses to interventions.
Purpose: This study aimed to describe the creation of a novel MT-specific outcome measure to be utilized in the pediatric acute-care setting and establish construct validity for this measure to assess clinical effectiveness of MT interventions.
Setting: An oncology ward at a large pediatric tertiary medical center in the United States.
Participants: A total of 58 children and young adults undergoing HCT.
Research Design: Retrospective Cohort Study.
Intervention: A panel of massage therapists created a novel outcome measure, OMPREP, for use in MT sessions and per-formed a literature review to ensure face validity of the tool. This outcome measure was administered to patients and data were collected retrospectively to assess construct validity.
Results: A total of 1,333 MT sessions were completed (80.7% completion rate) with the novel OMPREP outcome measure utilized on 100% of visits. Mean engagement (p<.001), response (p<.001), and pain (p<.001) scores were all significantly great-er at evaluation and discharge compared to the lowest observed scores post-HCT.
Conclusion: The novel MT-specific out-come measure, OMPREP, was feasible and demonstrated construct validity when implemented in a pediatric acute-care setting by massage therapists. This new tool may offer a quantitative measure of MT-interventions and assist in tracking patient outcomes
Navigating Generative AI: Opportunities, Limitations, and Ethical Considerations in Massage Therapy and Beyond
No full textGenerative artificial intelligence (AI) has become a hot topic, particularly ChatGPT's quick adoption and popularity, prompting discussions about its disruptive potential in health care, education, and creative sectors. The author, an early adopter, shares personal insights on leveraging generative AI for creative tasks and communication challenges, while also exploring its role as a tool rather than an author. Opportuni-ties and limitations of integrating generative AI in the massage therapy field are explored, reflecting on the profession's reluctance to embrace technology and the potential efficiency gains. While acknowledging generative AI's creative promise, the importance of ethical and regulated utilization, highlighting data biases and limitations, is underscored. Overall, a balanced and responsible approach to incorporating generative AI into various domains is recommended