MASSAGE THERAPY FOR BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT PATIENTS

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): The purposes of this feasibility study are to (a) demonstrate the feasibility of conducting a randomized, controlled trial of massage therapy in an autologous bone marrow transplant (ABMT) population, and (b) compare outcome, as measured by situational and general mood inventories, between patients who have participated in massage therapy and those who have not.Thirty patients scheduled to undergo ABMT will be randomly assigned to receive either (a) massage therapy (MT), consisting of three 20-minute sessions of shoulder, neck, head and facial massage per week for three weeks during the hospital stay, of (b) standard treatment (ST). Both groups will continue to receive standard medical care. Repeated measures of outcome will include the immediate effects of massage using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and indices of psychophysiological arousal collected prior to and following the first, fifth and ninth massage sessions. Parallel measurements of controls will be collected. Global effects of massage therapy will be assessed using the State-Trait Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and the Brief Profile of Mood States. Although the feasibility study will not have sufficient statistical power to test experimental hypotheses, the investigators expect the data to demonstrate trends reflecting a decrease in anxiety and psychophysiological arousal indices and less reported anxiety, depression and general negative mood state for those ABMT patients engaging in massage therapy. The investigators plan to use the study as a pilot for a full-scale trial involving a larger sample size, additional outcome measures, and a third experimental group that controls for therapist attention and patient expectations.