title: Massage therapy has short-term benefits for people with common musculoskeletal disorders compared to no treatment: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Is massage therapy effective for people with musculoskeletal disorders compared to any other treatment or no treatment?
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic review of randomised clinical trials.
  
  
  METHODS
  People with musculoskeletal disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Massage therapy (manual manipulation of the soft tissues) as a stand-alone intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The primary outcomes were pain and function.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 26 eligible randomised trials involved 2565 participants. The mean sample size was 95 participants (range 16 to 579) per study; 10 studies were considered to be at low risk of bias. Overall, low-to-moderate-level evidence indicated that massage reduces pain in the short term compared to no treatment in people with shoulder pain and osteoarthritis of the knee, but not in those with low back pain or neck pain. Furthermore, low-to-moderate-level evidence indicated that massage improves function in the short term compared to no treatment in people with low back pain, knee arthritis or shoulder pain. Low-to-very-low-level evidence from single studies indicated no clear benefits of massage over acupuncture, joint mobilisation, manipulation or relaxation therapy in people with fibromyalgia, low back pain and general musculoskeletal pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Massage therapy, as a stand-alone treatment, reduces pain and improves function compared to no treatment in some musculoskeletal conditions. When massage is compared to another active treatment, no clear benefit was evident.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam.
authors.forename: Diederik C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Bervoets
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam.
authors.forename: Pim A J
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Luijsterburg
authors.affiliation: Avans University of Applied Science, Breda, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen J N
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Alessie
authors.affiliation: Avans University of Applied Science, Breda, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martijn J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Buijs
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam.
authors.forename: Arianne P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Verhagen
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008405:Massage / Q000379:methods*; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Massage therapy; Physical therapy; Randomised clinical trials; Systematic review