1 Position Statement Proposal on Massage and Quality of Life For

Objectives: The study objectives were to determine the feasibility and effects of 350 providing therapeutic massage at home for patients with metastatic cancer. Design: This was a 351 randomized controlled trial. Settings/location: Patients were enrolled at Oncology Clinics at a 352 large urban academic medical center; massage therapy was provided in patients' homes. Subjects: 353 Subjects were patients with metastatic cancer. Interventions: There were three interventions: 354 massage therapy, no-touch intervention, and usual care. Outcome measures: Primary outcomes 355 were pain, anxiety, and alertness; secondary outcomes were quality of life and sleep. Results: In 356 this study, it was possible to provide interventions for all patients at home by professional 357 massage therapists. The mean number of massage therapy sessions per patient was 2.8. A 358 significant improvement was found in the quality of life of the patients who received massage 359 therapy after 1-week follow-up, which was not observed in either the No Touch control or the 360 Usual Care control groups, but the difference was not sustained at 1 month. There were trends 361 toward improvement in pain and sleep of the patients after therapeutic massage but not in 362 patients in the control groups. There were no serious adverse events related to the interventions. 363 Conclusions: The study results showed that it is feasible to provide therapeutic massage at home 364