Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/465652
F r e e m u s i c d o w n l o a d s f o r C e r t i f i e d m e m b e r s : w w w. a b m p . c o m / g o / c e r t i f i e d c e n t r a l 47 needed to determine if there are sleep effects from massage therapy for patients with fibromyalgia. Of note, no adverse events were reported in any of the 10 studies of massage therapy for fibromyalgia. VARIABILITY Several limitations exist within this review. First, there was great variability among the subjects in these studies, with ages ranging from 19–90, and the duration of diagnosis ranging from 1–14 years. Such variability makes it difficult to determine the type of patient who might benefit the most from massage. Perhaps all patients with fibromyalgia would benefit from massage therapy, but we cannot determine that from the current findings. Second, there was great variability in the massage treatment provided. Massage time ranged from 25–90 minutes, total sessions ranged from 1–20, and study duration ranged from 1–24 weeks. research databases for studies evaluating massage therapy for fibromyalgia. All studies included in the review met the following criteria: (1) the study was a randomized controlled trial of massage therapy for fibromyalgia, (2) study participants with fibromyalgia were diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria, (3) massage therapy was independent of other manual therapy interventions, indicating that other therapies were not combined with massage, (4) any type of comparison group was allowed, (5) the main outcome measures included anxiety, depression, pain, and sleep disturbance, and (6) the articles were written in either English or Chinese. Nine randomized controlled trials involving 404 subjects were ultimately included in the review. All nine clinical trials included some measurement of pain. The results of the review demonstrated that in massage therapy studies with a duration of at least five weeks, there was significant reduction of fibromyalgia pain. However, no significant reduction in pain was demonstrated in studies of less than five weeks. Massage therapy results for anxiety and depression were similar to those for pain. Both anxiety and depression were significantly improved in massage therapy studies that were at least five weeks in duration, with no significant reduction in anxiety or depression in studies of less than five weeks. Overall, the clinical trials as a group did not show improvement in sleep disturbances in patients with fibromyalgia who received massage therapy, regardless of the duration. However, there was one individual study that demonstrated massage therapy significantly improved sleep duration even after 24 weeks of follow-up. More research is