The Impact of Massage Therapy on Pain and Anxiety in Patients With Gynecologic Cancer While Receiving Infusion

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine the feasibility of studying massage therapy in patients with gynecologic cancers while receiving infusion treatments. The central hypothesis is that it is feasible to implement a massage intervention study in an infusion center at an academic hospital, and measure pain and anxiety in patients with gynecological cancer. The main questions it aims to answer are: Can investigators evaluate feasibility to conduct a study from a design standpoint? Can investigators assess the use of randomization, blinding of assessors, potential to control the study with an attention group, and recruitment/retention processes? Can investigators successfully collect outcome measures of pain and anxiety, pre/post intervention? Researchers will investigate degree of resources needed, such as massage therapists, assessors, and timing of delivery intervention. Assess positive/negative effects on target population determining massage modality and anatomical location. Researchers will compare massage therapy to an attention control group, to see if massage therapy works to treat pain and anxiety in patients with cancer. Establish variability in outcome measures. Participants will: Be randomized and receive either massage therapy or attention control over the course of three consecutive infusion therapy treatments. Each infusion therapy treatment occurs every 2-4 weeks.

Eligibility

Age range

18–85 years

Sex

Female

Healthy volunteers

No

Interventions

• Procedure
  Massage Therapy

  Gynecologic patient receiving an infusion will receive massage therapy for 15-20 minutes. The patient will have a choice of a hand, foot, or posterior neck and shoulder Swedish massage.

• Procedure
  Attention Control

  Massage therapist sits with gynecologic patient receiving an infusion asking questions for no more than 15 minutes.

Location