SynthesisZeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie2021
Massage and touch-based therapy : Clinical evidence, neurobiology and applications in older patients with psychiatric symptoms.
Synthesis in Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patients' experiences and perceived outcomes of manual therapy: a qualitative systematic review with framework synthesis.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Quality appraisal of clinical practice guidelines addressing massage interventions using the AGREE II instrument.Systematic reviews · 2024Article
- Social Touch: Its Mirror-like Responses and Implications in Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases.NeuroSci · 2023Review
- Therapeutic Alliance as Active Inference: The Role of Therapeutic Touch and Biobehavioural Synchrony in Musculoskeletal Care.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMassage and touch-based treatment are popular despite limited evidence from high quality clinical trials. This article reviews the rationale and evidence of treating older patients with psychiatric symptoms by touch-based therapy.
methodsNarrative literature review, based on Medline search with the following key words: massage, social touch, affective touch, clinical trial, meta-analysis. Citations of identified articles were searched for additional relevant studies.
resultsEvidence from clinical trials in adult patients with mainly chronic disorders of the musculoskeletal system suggests that massage therapy results in significant short-term improvement of symptoms; however, treatment effects appear not to be sustained. In addition, conclusions are difficult to draw owing to very heterogeneous study interventions, difficulties with definition of control conditions and treatment outcomes. There appears to be better evidence for improvement of psychological variables and subjective symptoms, such as pain and quality of life. A neuronal system of affective and social touch has been identified with specific afferents from C‑fibre coupled low threshold mechanoreceptors projecting into the insular cortex and the limbic system. This system may also mediate effects of massage in adult patients. Positive clinical trials for depressive symptoms of dementia and for behavioral symptoms of advanced dementia are available with encouraging results.
conclusionThe neuronal system of social and affective touch suggests a potential mechanism of action of touch-based interventions in geriatric psychiatry. In addition, it provides a rationale for applying and designing novel touch-based treatment strategies as adjunctive treatment for psychiatric disorders of old age.
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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.