2 research outputs found
The effectiveness of massage for reducing pregnant women's anxiety and depression : systematic review and meta-analysis
Objective: To critically appraise and synthesize the best available evidence on the effectiveness of massage to reduce antenatal women's anxiety and/ or depression. Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis Participants, interventions: Pregnant women over the age of 18 years who receive massage interventions. Measurements and findings: Eight studies were included in the review; seven were randomized controlled trials. Data were collected via pregnant women's self-reported ratings of anxiety or depression using validated tools. Meta-analysis of four studies revealed a moderate effect of massage therapy on women's depressive symptoms as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (MD = -5.95, 95%CI = -8.11 to -3.80, I2 = 0%) compared with usual care. A moderate effect of massage interventions on women's anxiety were also found based on five studies using various measures (SMD = -0.59, 95%CI = -1.06 to -0.12, I2 = 75%) when compared with usual care. However, none of the trials had a low risk of bias. Key conclusions: Non-pharmacologic treatments for mental health symptoms are an important option for women to use during pregnancy. As shown in meta-analysed data, massage therapy might be more effective in reducing pregnant women's anxiety and depression than usual care, although the current results may be prone to bias. Further high-quality research is required to fully evaluate the impact of massage therapy on pregnant women's mental health symptoms in the immediate and also longer term. Implications for practice: Massage therapy may be an acceptable and feasible approach for pregnant women to employ to reduce their anxiety and depressive symptoms. More research evidence examining the safety and effectiveness of massage is required before practice recommendations can be made
Recommended from our members
Common Data Element Collection in Underserved School Communities: Challenges and Recommendations
OBJECTIVESTo provide recommendations for future common data element (CDE) development and collection that increases community partnership, harmonizes data interpretation, and continues to reduce barriers of mistrust between researchers and underserved communities. METHODSWe conducted a cross-sectional qualitative and quantitative evaluation of mandatory CDE collection among Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations Return to School project teams with various priority populations and geographic locations in the United States to: (1) compare racial and ethnic representativeness of participants completing CDE questions relative to participants enrolled in project-level testing initiatives and (2) identify the amount of missing CDE data by CDE domain. Additionally, we conducted analyses stratified by aim-level variables characterizing CDE collection strategies. RESULTSThere were 15 study aims reported across the 13 participating Return to School projects, of which 7 (47%) were structured so that CDEs were fully uncoupled from the testing initiative, 4 (27%) were fully coupled, and 4 (27%) were partially coupled. In 9 (60%) study aims, participant incentives were provided in the form of monetary compensation. Most project teams modified CDE questions (8/13; 62%) to fit their population. Across all 13 projects, there was minimal variation in the racial and ethnic distribution of CDE survey participants from those who participated in testing; however, fully uncoupling CDE questions from testing increased the proportion of Black and Hispanic individuals participating in both initiatives. CONCLUSIONSCollaboration with underrepresented populations from the early study design process may improve interest and participation in CDE collection efforts