Efficacy of Massage Therapy at the End of Life

描述(由申请人提供)：缓解身体和情绪症状是临终关怀的关键组成部分。然而，在绝症患者中，有很大的未缓解症状的负担。晚期癌症患者通常有多种症状；用于缓解一种症状的药物干预措施可能会加剧其他症状。对有可能缓解这些症状的治疗方法的有效性的研究值得我们优先考虑。出于这些原因，本应用程序的目标是评估按摩疗法在缓解接受临终关怀/姑息治疗的晚期癌症患者的症状苦恼和提高生活质量方面的疗效。本研究的具体目的是证明推拿疗法在治疗癌症临终患者疼痛、减轻躯体和情绪痛苦、提高生活质量方面的效果。这将是一项多点随机临床试验，比较推拿疗法加常规临终关怀与对照组接受“不动触摸”加常规临终关怀。这项研究将在一个基于社区的临终关怀/姑息治疗研究网络中进行。数据将在基线、每次干预(按摩治疗)或对照(不动触摸)之前和之后收集，并在每个患者参与研究的三周内每周收集。分析将确定干预(一系列按摩治疗)对确定的结果(疼痛、身体和情绪症状痛苦、生活质量)的独立影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Relief of physical and emotional symptoms is a key component of end-of-life care. However, there is a significant burden of unrelieved symptoms among terminally ill patients. Individuals with advanced cancer often suffer from multiple symptoms; the pharmacologic interventions used for alleviation of one symptom may exacerbate other symptoms. Studies of the efficacy of therapies that have potential to mediate these symptoms deserve our highest priority. For these reasons, the goal of this application is to evaluate the efficacy of massage therapy for alleviation of symptom distress and improvement of quality of life for patients with advanced cancer who are receiving hospice/palliative care. The specific aim of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy of massage therapy for treatment of pain, reduction of physical and emotional symptom distress, and improvement of quality of life among cancer patients at the end of life. This will be a multi-site randomized clinical trial comparing massage therapy plus usual hospice care with a control group receiving "non-moving touch" plus usual hospice care. The study will be conducted in a community-based hospice/palliative care research network. Data will be collected at baseline, immediately preceding and following each intervention (massage therapy) or control (non-moving touch) session, and weekly for the three weeks of each patient's participation in the study. Analyses will determine the independent influence of the intervention (a series of massage therapy sessions) on the identified outcomes (pain, physical and emotional symptom distress, quality of life).