Measuring the Feasibility and the Effects of Chair Massage on Pain and Discomfort in the Cardiac Sonographer

NCT ID: NCT00975026

Last Updated: 2012-01-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 45 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2008-09-30
• Study Completion Date: 2009-01-31

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the effects of chair massage and/or chair massage with stretching may reduce musculoskeletal pain and discomfort related symptoms associated with the job duties of a cardiac sonographer.

Detailed Description

Staff performing echocardiography exams work in a physically demanding environment. The physical and psychosocial demands of the work environment place a significant amount of stress on the physical well being of the employee. The nature of the work involved includes repetitive movements and static holds while applying intense pressure. These compounded by a challenging ergonomic work environment, often leads to physical tension, pain, and fatigue. Staff and patient characteristics, in particular obesity, present greater ergonomic challenges. In this setting, optimal ergonomics can be difficult to achieve. Repetitive actions in an ergonomically challenging environment can have an accumulative effect that can lead to injury.

Massage therapy has been noted to decrease levels of anxiety and fatigue which is essential to maintaining efficient care in a dynamic environment. Repetitive use, typically leads to shortened, tight muscles that fatigue over time. Once the massage therapy has released the connective tissue tension and restored muscle imbalances, exercise focused on core, trunk strength and those muscles which oppose the repetitively used muscles can further assist the therapeutic benefits of massage.

The cardiac sonographer is usually sitting and reaching forward or to the side, and the musculoskeletal imbalances show up primarily superior to the hips. Massage Therapy research for alleviating musculoskeletal symptoms has been with the use of table massage whereas chair massage research has focused on gaining physiological benefits. Chair massage therapy impacts the head, back, neck shoulders, arms and hands so does impact the areas of musculoskeletal imbalance of the cardiac sonographer. In addition, a massage chair is easy to set up, does not need a great deal of space, and can be provided in semi-private area, as the participant remains clothed. Chair massage literature to date has focused more on physiological responses and albeit positive, not as much on musculoskeletal responses.

Conditions

Overuse Injury; Repetitive Strain Injury

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Massages

Chair massage for 30 minutes once a week.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Massages ± Stretches

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Chair Massage

Massages + Stretches

Chair massage for 30 minutes once a week in addition to stretching exercises, to be done twice daily for 20 minutes.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Massages ± Stretches

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Chair Massage

No Intervention

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Massages ± Stretches

Chair Massage

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Cardiac Sonographer that, per their job descriptions, are performing echocardiography exams during the weeks of the massage therapy pilot study.
• Men and Women age 18-65 able to give informed consent.
• Able to speak and understand English
• 8-hour per day shift schedule, Monday through Friday

Exclusion Criteria

• Individuals that decline to participate in the study.
• Individuals being treated for an acute musculoskeletal symptom.
• Individuals currently on work restrictions.
• Undergoing treatments for malignancy
• Pregnancy (due to this being chair massage)
• Recent head, neck, shoulder or back surgeries
• Pins or joint fusion of the head or neck
• Current sinus infections, earaches, or vascular migraines
• Students

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Mayo Clinic

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Deborah Engen

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Deborah J. Engen, O.T.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Mayo Clinic

Locations

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Countries

United States

References

Engen DJ, Wahner-Roedler DL, Nadolny AM, Persinger CM, Oh JK, Spittell PC, Loehrer LL, Cha SS, Bauer BA. The effect of chair massage on muscular discomfort in cardiac sonographers: a pilot study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010 Sep 16;10:50. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-10-50.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 20846441 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

08-005517

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id