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AzTrials

PainNCT01217424

Reflexology or Aromatherapy Massage in Relieving Symptoms in Patients With Cancer

A study testing questionnaire administration, aromatherapy and essential oils and management of therapy complications in people with Pain and Psychosocial Effects of Cancer and Its Treatment, run by Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust at 1 site in United Kingdom.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

RATIONALE: Reflexology and aromatherapy massage may lessen symptoms in patients with cancer. It is not yet known whether reflexology is more effective than aromatherapy massage in relieving symptoms in patients with cancer. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 120 years
What is being tested?
questionnaire administration, aromatherapy and essential oils and management of therapy complications
Type of treatment
Surgery or procedure
How many people
100 participants
Where
1 siteUnited Kingdom
Study dates
Oct 2010to Nov 2011
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 120 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Any patient receiving treatment for cancer at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Hospital
  • Must be attending the hospital as an outpatient
  • Planning to access complementary therapy

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

  • No excessive pain in both hands and both feet
  • Not experiencing a combination of conditions affecting both hands and both feet which would prevent reflexology of either hands or feet from taking place, including any of the following:
  • Deep vein thrombosis
  • Lymphedema
  • Infected or broken skin
  • Recent scars or injuries
  • Phlebitis
  • Areas currently receiving radiotherapy (or received radiotherapy in the past 2 weeks)
  • Able and willing to attend the hospital for four 1-hour sessions

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

  • See Disease Characteristics
  • At least 2 months since prior and no other concurrent massage therapy or reflexology at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Hospital or from another practitioner
  • Not planning to undergo massage therapy or reflexology while also taking part in this study
  • At least 2 months since prior and no other concurrent massage therapy at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Hospital

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United Kingdom1 site
  • Royal Marsden - London

    London, England, SW3 6JJ

Other trials in United Kingdom

About this study

Official title: Is Reflexology as Effective as Aromatherapy Massage for Symptom Relief in an Outpatient Oncology Population?

RATIONALE: Reflexology and aromatherapy massage may lessen symptoms in patients with cancer. It is not yet known whether reflexology is more effective than aromatherapy massage in relieving symptoms in patients with cancer.

PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying reflexology to see how well it works compared with aromatherapy massage in relieving symptoms in patients with cancer.

Read the detailed description

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

  • To determine whether reflexology is as effective as aromatherapy massage for alleviation of self-selected symptoms in patients with cancer in an outpatient setting.

Secondary

  • To determine the difference between the two therapies with respect to Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) relaxation scores before and after each treatment.

OUTLINE: Patients are stratified according to gender (male vs female), treatment (chemotherapy vs other) and their first concern choice (pain vs other). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 intervention arms.

  • Arm I (Reflexology): Patients undergo 45-60 minutes of reflexology for 4 sessions.
  • Arm II (Aromatherapy massage): Patients undergo 45-60 minutes of of aromatherapy massage for 4 sessions.

Patients complete questionnaires (Measure Yourself Concerns and Well-being [MYCAW] questionnaire and Visual Analogue Scale [VAS]) at baseline, before and after each session, and after completion of all four sessions.

Being tested
questionnaire administration, aromatherapy and essential oils, management of therapy complications, massage therapy, psychosocial assessment and care
Keywords
psychosocial effects of cancer and its treatment, pain, unspecified adult solid tumor, protocol specific
Medical subject headings
Pain

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • questionnaire administrationOther

  • aromatherapy and essential oilsProcedure or surgery

  • management of therapy complicationsProcedure or surgery

  • massage therapyProcedure or surgery

  • psychosocial assessment and careProcedure or surgery

  • reflexology procedureProcedure or surgery

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Difference of 1 point of concern scores in Measure Yourself Concerns and Well-being (MYCAW) questionnaire from baseline to second evaluation (after completion of all four sessions of therapy)

Secondary outcomes (5)
  1. Difference of 2 points of concern scores in MYCAW questionnaire

  2. Difference in MYCAW overall well-being score

  3. Change over time in pre-session Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) relaxation score (long-term relaxation benefit)

  4. Change in pre- to post-session VAS relaxation score (short-term relaxation benefit)

  5. Percentage of patients gaining benefit from the intervention defined as improvement by at least 1 point in all answered MYCAW scales

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted8 Oct 2010 (estimated)
  2. Study startOct 2010
  3. Primary completionNov 2011
  4. Study completionNov 2011

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomised
Enrolment
100 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT01217424
Sponsor's protocol ID
CDR0000686459
Other IDs
RMNHS-REFLEXOLOGY, EU-21075, MREC-10/H0801/31
Status last verified
Oct 2010
First submitted
7 Oct 2010
Last updated
1 Nov 2016
Results posted
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing questionnaire administration, aromatherapy and essential oils and management of therapy complications in people with Pain and Psychosocial Effects of Cancer and Its Treatment, run by Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust at 1 site in United Kingdom.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 1 Nov 2016. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United Kingdom. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Difference of 1 point of concern scores in Measure Yourself Concerns and Well-being (MYCAW) questionnaire from baseline to second evaluation (after completion of all four sessions of therapy). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 1 Nov 2016.

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