The Effect of Swedish Massage on Relieving Fatigue of Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Undergoing Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Fatigue is the most annoying side effect of cancer treatment in children who\rexperience it from the time of diagnosis till conclusion of therapy. About 75% to 90% of children\rundergoing chemotherapy suffer from this complication. To relieve this problem, massage\rtherapy is recommended which is the most widely applied adjuvant therapy. The purpose of this\rstudy was to determine the effect of Swedish massage on fatigue relieve in children aged 7-12\ryears suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who are undergoing chemotherapy at\rthe Children’s Medical Center of Tehran, Iran.\rMethods: In this clinical trial, 50 children with ALL undergoing chemotherapy were assigned\rinto 2 groups of intervention and control. First, the severity of fatigue in both groups was\rmeasured employing a child fatigue scale questionnaire. Then, in the intervention group, the\rSwedish massage with the effleurage technique was applied by the child’s mother daily for 4\rweeks. The fatigue in both groups was measured at the end of each week. The obtained data were\ranalyzed, using descriptive and inferential statistics (repeated measures analysis).\rResults: Indicated a significant difference in total score of quality of life and the mean score of\rfatigue between two groups after intervention (P<0.001). The mean score of fatigue intensity and\rtotal score of quality of life, had significant decrease in experimental group than control group\rafter intervention.\rConclusion: Considering the results of this study, applying the Swedish massage by the mother\ras a supplemental and non-invasive intervention can be effective in reducing fatigue in children\rsuffering from ALL who are undergoing chemotherapy.