Abstract
Background: Patients with cancer undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) endure a series of stressors and adverse symptoms throughout treatment, resulting in greatly impaired quality of life (QoL).
Objectives: To investigate the immediate and cumulative effects of massage on stress, relaxation, and comfort, explore effects of massage on anxiety, pain, and QoL outcomes, and identify the benefits of and barriers to patient acceptance of massage during phases of the ASCT process in individuals undergoing ASCT for cancer.
Methods: This pilot project used a mixed methods, unmasked, prospective, randomized experimental design. Baseline demographics and history, health-related QoL, state anxiety, perceived stress, comfort, and relaxation levels, pain, and social support were assessed. Descriptive statistics and graphing techniques were used to analyze the data.
Results: An immediate effect in stress reduction, increased relaxation, and increased comfort were identified post massage. Cumulative effects of massage over transplant phases were not seen in the massage group. Participants in the massage group also reported lower anxiety scores across the transplant phases and lower affective and sensory pain scores during hospitalization following transplant than those in the SMC alone group. Perceived benefits of massage for the participants included improvement in symptoms that they had been experiencing prior to undergoing ASCT as well as their current treatment-related symptoms. Conclusions: Supportive care massage can have immediate effects on stress, comfort, and relaxation and improve treatment-related symptoms for patients undergoing ASCT.
Note: Abstract extracted from PDF file via OCR.
