Trial reportMedicine2020
Clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of massage chair therapy versus basic physiotherapy in lower back pain patients: A randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cost-Effectiveness of Physiotherapy Services for Chronic Condition Management: A Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations Conducted Alongside Randomized Controlled Trials.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2024Pooled it
- The clinical effect of an electric massage chair on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients: randomized phase II cross-over trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Trial
- Pain Reduction and Posture Alignment Improvement in Older Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Novel Approach Using Spinal Thermal Massage Bed and Calf Pneumatic Cell Compression.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2023Trial
- The Impact of a Heated Effleurage and Heated Tapotement Massage on Low-Back Discomfort from a Seat.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Recharging Healthcare Professionals: A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Impact of Automated Massage Chairs on Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Musculoskeletal Pain, and Biochemical Markers.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Pain, Progress, and Price: A Review of Conservative and Complementary Treatments for Low Back Pain.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Effect of a massage chair (BFM-M8040) on neck and shoulder pain in office workers: A randomized controlled clinical trial.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Clinical studies on the electric automatic massage therapy for recovery of acute sports fatigue.Technology and health care : official journal of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionLow back pain is a chronic recurrent symptom, which can lower the patient's quality of life. With technological development of automated home massage systems, now offers a promising alternative to physiotherapy. However, thus far, the effectiveness of such methods has not been evaluated. We aimed to compare the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a massage chair with those of conventional physiotherapy for the treatment.
methodsThis was a randomized controlled trial with a two-group parallel design. Following randomization and allocation, 56 participants were enrolled to receive either physiotherapy (n = 25) or mechanical massage using the massage chair (n = 31). Pain severity was measured using a visual analog scale (VAS) and satisfaction assessed with the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). Quality of life modification was analyzed using the Functional Rating Index (FRI). Cost-effectiveness was analyzed by comparing the sum of physiotherapy fees and monthly rental fees for chair massage.
resultsPhysiotherapy and massage chair were both effective for pain control as assessed with the VAS (P < .001), satisfaction as assessed by MPQ (P < .001) and life quality improvement as assessed by FRI (P < .001) in both groups. Both VAS and FRI scores were significantly higher for physiotherapy than for massage chair (P = .03 and P = .03, respectively). There was no significant difference in MPQ between the two groups. Massage chair therapy was more cost-effective than physiotherapy, at only 60.17% of the physiotherapy cost (P < .001).
conclusionsThe home massage chair system was cost-effective, but pain control and disability improved more with physiotherapy. However, our results showed that the massage chair is a promising treatment for pain control and quality of life modification, but efficacy is still superior in physiotherapy and the chair is not a replacement for physiotherapy.
trial registrationClinical Research Information Service, KCT0003157. Retrospectively registered August 2, 2018.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.