| Study characteristics |
| Methods |
RCT, USA |
| Participants |
Nurses with at least 6 months full‐time bedside nursing in a hospital setting. Those who regularly receive massage therapy on their own as well as anyone with medical reasons for not being able to have chair massage were excluded. |
| Interventions |
1) Experimental: massage: application to the back, neck, shoulders, arms and hands. Techniques used were effleurage, petrissage, friction, vibration and compression. One 30‐minute session per person over 4 days
2) Control: 10‐minute self‐directed break |
| Outcomes |
The Perceived Stress Scale |
| Identification |
|
| Notes |
PSS included in analysis 2.1 |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not reported. |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
"Sample size was 82 participants, randomly assigned to the massage group or the control group per a randomization schedule developed by a biostatistician who worked for the hospital but was not on the study team" (p. 337) |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Participants were not blinded. |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Participants were not blinded whereas outcomes are self‐reported. |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
"A total of 60 follow‐up surveys were completed, a 73% return rate" (p.339) |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
There was only one outcome measured and reported. |
| Other bias |
Unclear risk |
We did not find any indications of other sources of bias. |
