Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21727288›Full record

Trial reportAnnals of internal medicine2011

A comparison of the effects of 2 types of massage and usual care on chronic low back pain: a randomized, controlled trial.

Daniel C Cherkin, Karen J Sherman, Janet Kahn, Robert Wellman, Andrea J Cook, Eric Johnson, Janet Erro, Kristin Delaney, Richard A Deyo

Registry-linked trialOpen access · greenAbstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Annals of internal medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00371384 (Effect of Massage on Chronic Low Back Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 56 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
56citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
39.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT00371384 phase2 / phase3completednot on this map

Effect of Massage on Chronic Low Back Pain

TypeinterventionalSponsorKaiser PermanenteRan2006 to 2009Enrolled399ConditionsChronic Low Back Pain (Non-specific, Uncomplicated)Armsmassage
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

56 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 133 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Massage for low-back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
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  6. The Effect of Massage Force on Relieving Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Daniel C CherkinGroup Health Research Institute, Seattle, Washington 98101, USA.
Karen J Sherman
Janet Kahn
Robert Wellman
Andrea J Cook
Eric Johnson
Janet Erro
Kristin Delaney
Richard A Deyo
Oregon Health & Science University · USUniversity of Washington · USUniversity of Vermont · USKaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute · US

Funding

Effect of Massage on Chronic Low Back PainR01AT001927 · NCCIH · KAISER FOUNDATION HEALTH PLAN OF WASHINGTON · PI CHERKIN, DANIEL C. · 2005 to 2008
$2.0M
NCCIH NIH HHS R01 AT 001927NCCIH NIH HHS R01 AT001927
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFew studies have evaluated the effectiveness of massage for chronic low back pain.

objectiveTo compare the effectiveness of 2 types of massage and usual care for chronic back pain.

designParallel-group randomized, controlled trial. Randomization was computer-generated, with centralized allocation concealment. Participants were blinded to massage type but not to assignment to massage versus usual care. Massage therapists were unblinded. The study personnel who assessed outcomes were blinded to treatment assignment. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00371384)

settingAn integrated health care delivery system in the Seattle area. PATIENTS: 401 persons 20 to 65 years of age with nonspecific chronic low back pain.

interventionStructural massage (n = 132), relaxation massage (n = 136), or usual care (n = 133). MEASUREMENTS: Roland Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) and symptom bothersomeness scores at 10 weeks (primary outcome) and at 26 and 52 weeks (secondary outcomes). Mean group differences of at least 2 points on the RDQ and at least 1.5 points on the symptom bothersomeness scale were considered clinically meaningful.

resultsThe massage groups had similar functional outcomes at 10 weeks. The adjusted mean RDQ score was 2.9 points (95% CI, 1.8 to 4.0 points) lower in the relaxation group and 2.5 points (CI, 1.4 to 3.5 points) lower in the structural massage group than in the usual care group, and adjusted mean symptom bothersomeness scores were 1.7 points (CI, 1.2 to 2.2 points) lower with relaxation massage and 1.4 points (CI, 0.8 to 1.9 points) lower with structural massage. The beneficial effects of relaxation massage on function (but not on symptom reduction) persisted at 52 weeks but were small. LIMITATION: Participants were not blinded to treatment.

conclusionMassage therapy may be effective for treatment of chronic back pain, with benefits lasting at least 6 months. No clinically meaningful difference between relaxation and structural massage was observed in terms of relieving disability or symptoms. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Indexed as

AdultAgedChronic DiseaseFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHealth Care CostsHumansLow Back PainMaleMassageMiddle AgedPain MeasurementRelaxation TherapySurveys and QuestionnairesTreatment OutcomeYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID21727288
PMCPMC3570565
OpenAlexW2053349970

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.