Is there an association between women's consultations with a massage therapist and health-related quality of life? Analyses of 1800 women aged 56-61 years

Jane Frawley; Wenbo Peng; David Sibbritt; Lesley Ward; Romy Lauche; Yan Zhang; Jon Adams

doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2016.04.008

Is there an association between women's consultations with a massage therapist and health-related quality of life? Analyses of 1800 women aged 56-61 years

J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2016 Oct;20(4):734-739. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2016.04.008. Epub 2016 Apr 7.

Authors

Jane Frawley¹, Wenbo Peng², David Sibbritt², Lesley Ward³, Romy Lauche⁴, Yan Zhang⁵, Jon Adams²

Affiliations

¹ Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: Jane.Frawley@uts.edu.au.
² Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
³ Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia; Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, UK.
⁴ Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia; Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45276, Essen, Germany.
⁵ Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia; Department of Family Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, USA.

PMID: 27814852
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2016.04.008

Abstract

Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is commonplace in Australia with massage being a popular CAM modality.

Methods: This is a sub-study from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH). A total of 2120 mid-age (56-61 year old) women who consulted a CAM practitioner were invited to participate in this study. The Short-Form (SF-36) questionnaire was used to measure women's health-related quality of life.

Results: A total of 1800 women returned the questionnaire generating a response rate of 85.0%. Overall, 912 (50.7%) women visited a massage therapist in the previous 12 months. Women with lower quality of life scores in terms of bodily pain (p = 0.012) and/or emotional health (p = 0.029) were more likely to consult a massage therapist than those with higher scores.

Conclusion: The implications of these associations are important for informing healthcare providers in providing effective and coordinated care for patients with pain and mood symptoms.

Keywords: Complementary medicine; Manual therapies; Massage; Quality of life; SF-36.

MeSH terms

Australia
Complementary Therapies / methods
Complementary Therapies / psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health Status*
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Longitudinal Studies
Massage / psychology*
Mental Health*
Middle Aged
Pain Management / methods
Pain Management / psychology
Quality of Life / psychology*
Socioeconomic Factors
Women's Health*