Positive Health Online

Abstract

SOMANI and COLLEAGUES,  (1)School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University, Karachi. salima.somani@ucentralasia.org  (2)School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University, Karachi review the literature regarding effectiveness of massage therapy to reduce cancer pain.

Background

This literature review explores the effectiveness of massage therapy to reduce cancer pain.

Methodology

As part of the review, systematic literature search was carried out on various electronic databases and specialised journals. Included are 19 research-based articles and 8 review articles.

Results

The review suggests that cancer has become a common health problem in the world and most of the cancer patients are going through intense and unbearable pain. Studies have reported that most of the cancer patients' pain reduced with therapeutic massage. Seventy-three per cent of cancer patients use massage therapy in the USA. Few studies are available in the context of the developing world related to massage therapy and we could not find any study in the Pakistani context.

Conclusion

There is a need to conduct an interventional study about the effectiveness of massage therapy to control cancer pain in developing countries such as Pakistan.

References

Somani S(1), Merchant S(2) and Lalani S(2). A literature review about effectiveness of massage therapy for cancer pain. J Pak Med Assoc. 63(11):1418-21. Nov 2013.