Effect of Massage Therapy on Children With Asthma



Nekooee A¹ ; Faghihinia J² ; Ghasemy R² ; Ghaibizadeh M¹ ; Ghazavi Z³ Show Affiliations
Source: Iranian Journal of Pediatrics Published:2008

Abstract

Objective: Asthma is the most common illness in childhood and despite significant improvements for disease control and development of many different drugs its prevalence is increasing worldwide, Recently, the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in treatment of many diseases is increasing. The aim of this study to investigate the effect of massage therapy on children with asthma. Material & Methods: In this work, 44 asthmatic children aged 5 to 14 years were studied in the allergy and asthma clinic. The samples were chosen randomly divided into two groups. The first group received massage therapy the second group received routine therapy and care (control group). Parents in the massage group were instructed and asked to conduct a 20 minutes child massage every night at bedtime for one month. The massage ivolved stroking and kneading motions in face, head, neck, shoulder, arm, hands, legs, feet and back. Data was collected through interview and spiromentry measurements. The control group received only standard asthma therapy for one month. A spirometry along with exercise was done in both groups at baseline. A one month ambulatory obersevation followed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the findings. Findings: There was a statistically significant difference in mean spirometric indexes in message group at baseline and after one month follow up [forced vital capacity (FVC) with (P=0.05) Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) with (P = 0.02) and FEV1 after exeercise with (P = 0.0005). Indeed; there is significant difference between mean changes of FVC (2-1) with (P = 0.05) and FEV1 (2-1) in two groups with (P = 0.04). Conclusion: Accordig to the obtained results, daily massage can improved airway tonicity, decrease airway sensitivity, and better control of asthma. Applying this method can decline the use of non reasonable drugs and can be considered as a complementary to pharmaceutical methods.