ArticleInternational journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork2015
Massage Impact on Pain in Opioid-dependent Patients in Substance Use Treatment.
Article in International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Model structure for protocol adherence utilizing a manualized therapeutic massage intervention.Journal of complementary & integrative medicine · 2018Trial
- The Impact of a Novel Methodological Process for Needling Scars, Fascia, and Muscles in the Management of Myofascial Dysfunction and Chronic Pain in a Population Living With Social and Health Inequities: Quantitative Findings From a Longitudinal Observational Pilot Study.Pain research & management · 2025Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic pain is a common cause of health care utilization and high levels of pain are pronounced in individuals engaged in methadone maintenance treatment. Although massage has been demonstrated to alleviate chronic pain symptoms, its use as an adjunctive therapy to modify pain during opioid-replacement treatment is absent from the literature. PURPOSE: To consider the efficacy of Swedish massage in reducing pain in opioid-dependent patients with chronic pain receiving methadone treatment.
settingTrial was conducted at a nonprofit methadone treatment center serving low-income patients. RESEARCH
designA randomized clinical trial with randomized to either 1) massage plus treatment-as-usual (TAU) (n = 27) or 2) TAU (n = 24). Durability of treatment effect was evaluated at Week 12.
interventionEight weekly 50-minute Swedish massage sessions plus TAU or TAU alone.
main outcome measuresPain, anxiety, depression, physical functioning, decreased substance use, and improvement in treatment engagement.
resultsRandomized participants were comparable at Baseline for demographic, pain, physical, and emotional variables. Massage group reported improved pain scores; worst pain had a clinically significant 2-point improvement while the other pain scores did not. Overall improvements were not observed in treatment engagement or levels of anxiety, depression, or physical functioning. A subgroup of the participants, who felt they could be pain-free, consistently reported improvements in pain from Baseline to Week 8, and this was most pronounced and clinically significant in the massage group.
conclusionsThese preliminary findings do not support an overall clinically significant positive effect of Swedish massage on reduction in pain ratings or improvement in anxiety, depression, or treatment engagement in a substance-using, opioid-dependent population with chronic pain. Future nonpharmacologic pain research in marginalized substance-using populations may wish to consider some of the challenges and limitations faced in this project.
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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.