Is there an association between women's consultations with a massage therapist and health-related quality of life? Analyses of 1800 women aged 56-61 years.
BACKGROUND
The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is commonplace in Australia with massage being a popular CAM modality.


METHODS
This is a sub-study from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH). A total of 2120 mid-age (56-61 year old) women who consulted a CAM practitioner were invited to participate in this study. The Short-Form (SF-36) questionnaire was used to measure women's health-related quality of life.


RESULTS
A total of 1800 women returned the questionnaire generating a response rate of 85.0%. Overall, 912 (50.7%) women visited a massage therapist in the previous 12 months. Women with lower quality of life scores in terms of bodily pain (p = 0.012) and/or emotional health (p = 0.029) were more likely to consult a massage therapist than those with higher scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The implications of these associations are important for informing healthcare providers in providing effective and coordinated care for patients with pain and mood symptoms.
Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: Jane.Frawley@uts.edu.au.
Jane
J
Frawley
Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
Wenbo
W
Peng
Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
David
D
Sibbritt
Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia; Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, UK.
Lesley
L
Ward
Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia; Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45276, Essen, Germany.
Romy
R
Lauche
Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia; Department of Family Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, USA.
Yan
Y
Zhang
Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
Jon
J
Adams
D001315:Australia; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008405:Massage / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016387:Women's Health
Complementary medicine; Manual therapies; Massage; Quality of life; SF-36