Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Impact of massage therapy on anxiety levels in patients undergoing radiation therapy: randomized controlled trial.
Anxiety is a major issue in the cancer patient population. This randomized phase III trial evaluated the effects of massage therapy on anxiety levels in patients undergoing radiation therapy. Patients undergoing radiation therapy were randomly assigned to either 10 massage sessions or control sessions. ⋯ Furthermore, no difference was observed between the groups' respective state-anxiety scores after the 10 sessions. Massage therapy is associated with a significant, immediate decrease in anxiety scores. However, massage therapy appears to have no major impact on intermediate-term anxiety in patients undergoing radiation therapy.