Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Long‑term effect of massage therapy on blood pressure in prehypertensive women

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Mahshid Givi
. Masoumeh Sadeghi 1
. Mohammad Garakyaraghi
. Ameneh Eshghinezhad 2
. Mahin Moeini 3
. Zahra Ghasempour 4

1 Cardiac Rehabilitation Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute

2 Department of Adult Health Nursing in Nursing and Midwifery School

3 Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery,

4 Department of Physiotherapy, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Prehypertension is one of the cardiovascular disease predicators. Management of
prehypertension is an appropriate objective for clinicians in a wide range of medical centers. Massage
therapy is primarily nonpharmacological treatment that is used to control blood pressure (BP). This
study intends to investigate the long‑term effect of massage therapy on BP in prehypertensive women.
METHODS: This was a single‑blind clinical trial study conducted on 50 prehypertensive women
who referred to Sedigheh Tahereh Cardiovascular Center, during 6 months in 2009. Participants
were selected by simple random sampling and were divided into control and intervention groups.
The test group (25 patients) received massage for 10–15 min, three times a week for 10 sessions,
and the control group (25 patients) was relaxed in the same environment but with no massage.
Their BP was measured before and after each session and 72 h and 2 weeks after finishing the
massage therapy. Analyzing the data was done using descriptive and inferential statistical methods
(Chi‑square, Mann–Whitney, paired t‑test, and Student’s t‑test) through SPSS software version 18
and a significant level was considered as P < 0.05.
RESULTS: The results indicated that the mean systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) in the
massage group were significantly lower in comparison with the control group (P < 0.001). Evaluation
of durability of the massage effects on BP also indicated that 72 h after finishing the study, still there
was a significant difference between the test and control groups in SBP and DBP (P < 0.001), but after
2 weeks, there was not a significant difference in SBP and DBP (P > 0.05) between the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Although massage therapy seems to be a safe, effective, applicable, and cost‑effective
intervention to control BP of prehypertensive women, its effects do not persist for a long time.

Keywords

Blood pressure
long‑term effect
massage therapy
prehypertension
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 8, Issue 4
April 2018
Pages 1-5

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