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，有一个重大的负担，未缓解的症状之间的绝症患者。患有晚期癌症的个体通常患有多种症状;用于缓解一种症状的药物干预可能会加剧其他症状。研究有可能介导这些症状的疗法的疗效值得我们最优先考虑。出于这些原因，本申请的目的是评估按摩疗法对缓解正在接受临终关怀/姑息治疗的晚期癌症患者的症状困扰和改善生活质量的疗效。本研究的具体目的是证明按摩疗法治疗疼痛的疗效，减少身体和情绪症状的困扰，并改善癌症患者在生命结束时的生活质量。这将是一项多中心随机临床试验，比较按摩治疗加常规临终关怀与对照组接受“不动触摸”加常规临终关怀。该研究将在基于社区的临终关怀/姑息治疗研究网络中进行。将在基线、每次干预（按摩疗法）或对照（非移动触摸）治疗之前和之后立即收集数据，并在每例患者参与研究的三周内每周收集数据。分析将确定干预（一系列按摩治疗）对已确定结果（疼痛、身体和情绪症状困扰、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).