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The use of massage in hospitalized participants can aid in reducing anxiety, muscle tension, and pain. Findings of this study suggest massage can be a safe, pleasant treatment for hospitalized patients. Incorporating massage into patient care may yield positive results.
Massage is the intentional and systematic manipulation of the soft tissues of the body to enhance health and healing (National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, n.d.). It can be used alone or with essential oils. Until the 1990s, many nurses believed massage was part of their nursing care; in early nursing education, massage was part of bath and evening care rituals (Westman & Blaisdell, 2016). More recently, massage has not been included routinely in nursing care.
Significance of Research
The use of massage for hospitalized participants can aid in reducing anxiety, muscle tension, and pain (Dreyer et al., 2015). Increased research in recent years has evaluated the effect of massage on the management of pain and anxiety, but evidence is mixed regarding the degree of impact and related often to individual differences (Dreyer et al., 2015; Toth et al., 2013). Decreased anxiety has been shown in a recent study of hospitalized participants in acute care settings (Dreyer et al., 2015). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the use of massage are increasing, and findings suggest promising results for pain and anxiety (Buyukyilmaz & Aşti, 2013; Dreyer et al., 2015; Halm, 2015).
Research Questions
Reporting on the results from a larger study that identified hospitalized participants' responses to experiences of massage and prayer, this article focuses on participant responses to the massage experience. The research questions were:
1. How does massage affect patients' pain and anxiety?
2. How does massage affect distress and daily function?
Literature Review
Key words massage, pain, pain and anxiety, therapeutic massage, Swedish massage, hospitalized patient, and postoperative patient were searched for 2009-2015 in CINAHL. Researchers selected eight studies to include in this discussion. Other studies were excluded due to type of massage used and the patient populations.
In an RCT of patients who had undergone cardiac surgery in Quebec, Canada, 40 subjects were randomized to a hand massage group or a hand-holding group (Boitor, Martorella, Arbour, Michaud, & Gelinas, 2015). Subjects in the hand massage group were offered a...