Effects of physical therapy on pain and mood in patients with terminal cancer: a pilot randomized clinical trial
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 05/08/2012
Lopez–Sendin N et al. – The combination of massage and exercises can reduce pain and improve mood in patients with terminal cancer. A sustained effect on pain and psychologic distress existed; however, parameters such as physical distress and the least pain were no greater in the intervention group as compared to the sham.
Methods- The design was a randomized controlled pilot study.
- Twenty–four (24) patients with terminal cancer were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups.
- Group A received a physiotherapy intervention consisting of several massage techniques, mobilizations, and local and global exercises.
- Group B received a simple hand contact/touch to areas of pain (cervical area, shoulder, interscapular area, heels, and gastrocnemius), which was maintained for the same period of time as the intervention group.
- All patients received six sessions of 30–35 minutes in duration over a 2–week period.
- Outcomes were collected at baseline, at 1 week, and at a 2–week follow–up (after treatment completion) by an assessor blinded to the treatment allocation of the participants.
- Outcomes included the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI, 0–10 scale), Memorial Pain Assessment Card (0–10 scale), and Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS Physical, Psychological, 0–4 scale).
- Baseline between–group differences were assessed with an independent t–test.
- A two–way repeated–measures analysis of variance was used to examine the effects of the intervention.
- There were no significant between–group baseline differences (p>0.2).
- A significant group×time interaction with greater improvements in group A was found for BPI worst pain (F=3.5, p=0.036), BPI pain right now (F=3.94, p=0.027), and BPI index (F=13.2, p<0.001), for MSAS Psychological (F=8.480, p=0.001).
