Effect of eight weeks of massage therapy on quality of life in women with multiple sclerosis

Background:. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common chronic diseases. these study aimed to examine the effects of eight weeks of massage therapy on quality of life, in women who sufferers of MS. Methods: This was a true-experimental study. We conveniently selected 20 women volunteers from referrals of the MS Society of Isfahan. The inclusion criteria were to suffer from relapsing–remitting MS with an EDSS less than 3.5. We allocated the subjects into 2 groups of control (10 cases) and experiment (10 cases) by randomized matched sampling. After a session of briefing and collection of informed consent forms, we administered the pre-test. Massage therapy protocol was based on Russian method. It was lasted for 2 months) 2 sessions of 30 minutes per week (. At the end of experimental period, the pos-tests were administered. Our test included QOL-54 quality of life questionnaire. Data were analyzed by repeated measure ANOVA. Results: Changes in all measured variables including mental and physical health dimensions of QOL-54 showed significant interaction (F (1, 18) ≤12.98, P≤0/004). Discussion and Conclusion: Both research groups were under medical care, but it was only the massage group that showed progression in different criteria variables including different dimensions of quality of life. These results suggest that massage therapy could be used as a non-invasive, low cost, and complementary intervention for women MS patients. Keywords: Massage therapy, quality of life, fatigue, MS.