Clinical trial · Interventional
Study to Determine Therapeutic Massage Dosing to Improve Quality of Life in Hospitalized Patients Receiving Palliative Care
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Therapeutic massage is the most common non-traditional treatment option offered to improve quality of life, provide comfort and decrease pain in hospice and palliative care settings outside the hospital. Three systematic reviews of data in general pain, surgical and cancer populations found massage to be effective for treating pain versus active comparators. Given the remarkable negative impact on QOL experienced by patients hospitalized with a serious progressive illness, a nationwide opioid crisis in the setting of public concern for untreated pain, and patient demand for integrative therapies, we wish to investigate non-traditional methods of supporting patients in pain and providing clinicians with viable alternatives. Unfortunately, very little is known about optimal delivery of massage interventions in the hospital setting, including dosing parameters such as time and frequency We conducted a single center comparative effectiveness study to evaluate therapeutic massage "dosing" to improve self-reported quality-of-life in hospitalized patients receiving palliative care consultation.
Conditions
Conditions (8)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| COPD | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| ESRD | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Heart Failure | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| HIV Infections | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Sepsis | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Stroke | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Trauma | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Therapeutic massage | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (3)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- 3 x 10-minute massage
- description
- Subject receives a 10-minute massage daily for three consecutive days
- interventionNames
- Other: Therapeutic massage
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- 3 x 20-minute massage
- description
- Subject receives a 20-minute massage daily for three consecutive days
- interventionNames
- Other: Therapeutic massage
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Single 20-minute massage
- description
- Subject receives one 20-minute massage
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * age 18 and older * hospitalized, receiving inpatient palliative care consultation for any indication Exclusion Criteria: * unable to complete surveys in English * on negative-pressure isolation * unstable spine * platelets \< 10,000 * received massage in last 30 days
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available