Abstract
BackgroundDespite the growing popularity of therapeutic massage in the US, little is known about the training or practice characteristics of massage therapists. The objective of this study was to describe these characteristics.MethodsAs part of a study of random samples of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners, we interviewed 226 massage therapists licensed in Connecticut and Washington state by telephone in 1998 and 1999 (85% of those contacted) and then asked a sample of them to record information on 20 consecutive visits to their practices (total of 2005 consecutive visits).ResultsMost massage therapists were women (85%), white (95%), and had completed some continuing education training (79% in Connecticut and 52% in Washington). They treated a limited number of conditions, most commonly musculoskeletal (59% and 63%) (especially back, neck, and shoulder problems), wellness care (20% and 19%), and psychological complaints (9% and 6%) (especially anxiety and depression). Practitioners commonly used one or more assessment techniques (67% and 74%) and gave a massage emphasizing Swedish (81% and 77%), deep tissue (63% and 65%), and trigger/pressure point techniques (52% and 46%). Self-care recommendations, including increasing water intake, body awareness, and specific forms of movement, were made as part of more than 80% of visits. Although most patients self-referred to massage, more than one-quarter were receiving concomitant care for the same problem from a physician. Massage therapists rarely communicated with these physicians.ConclusionThis study provides new information about licensed massage therapists that should be useful to physicians and other healthcare providers interested in learning about massage therapy in order to advise their patients about this popular CAM therapy.
Highlights
Despite the growing popularity of therapeutic massage in the US, little is known about the training or practice characteristics of massage therapists
In the US, Eisenberg, et al [2] found 11% of randomly surveyed Americans had used massage for treating common medical conditions in 1997, with 62% of these receiving massage from a trained massage therapist. They found that the number of visits to massage therapists exceeded that to all other complementary and alternative medical (CAM) providers except chiropractors, with trained massage therapists providing an estimated 114 million massage sessions to Americans in 1997
We present new information about the demographic and training characteristics of licensed massage therapists, the reasons patients seek their care, the assessment process massage therapists use during visits, and the treatments and self-care recommendations they provide
Summary
Despite the growing popularity of therapeutic massage in the US, little is known about the training or practice characteristics of massage therapists. In the US, Eisenberg, et al [2] found 11% of randomly surveyed Americans had used massage for treating common medical conditions in 1997, with 62% of these receiving massage from a trained massage therapist. They found that the number of visits to massage therapists exceeded that to all other CAM providers except chiropractors, with trained massage therapists providing an estimated 114 million massage sessions to Americans in 1997. Palinkas [4] reported that massage was the third most commonly used type of CAM among primary care patients, with 17.2% of CAM users reporting use of massage within the last year for the same reason they were seeking primary care
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