Table 1.
Studies included in the meta-analysis.
| Author, year | Sample (MG/CG) | Mean age (±SD) gender | Cancer type | Cancer stage | Current treatment | Treatment group (intervention form, massage area, duration, frequency, program length) | Control group | Pain scale | Adverse events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsay, 2008[21] | 30/31 | 59.80 ± 14.70 Male 29, female 32 |
Mixed | NR | Perioperative period | Foot reflexology; digestive reflex zones of upper and lower abdomen, liver, spleen, gall bladder, duodenal, intestine, and colon; 20 minutes; 1 time/day; 3 days |
Usual care | SF-MPQ | NR |
| Tian, 2011[22] | 30/30 | MG: 58.54 ± 9.48 Male 21, female 9 CG: 58.50 ± 7.87 Male 23, female 7 |
Mixed | NR | Chemotherapy | Foot reflexology; basic reflex area (kidney, superior renal gland, ureter, bladder, celiac plexus) and reflex areas corresponding to a diseased organ or system; 30 minutes; 3 times/day;6 days |
Usual care + take a comfortable position for bed rest; 30 minutes; 3 times/day; 6 days | Changhai Pain Measuring Scale | NR |
| Gwen, 2012[23] | 95/96 | MG: 55.30 ± 9.40 CG: 57.30 ± 11.80 Female |
Breast cancer | Ⅲ–IV, or Ⅰ–Ⅱ with recurrence or metastasis | Chemotherapy, hormonotherapy | Foot reflexology; the 9 essential breast cancer-specific reflex areas; 30 minutes; 1 time/week; 4 weeks | Usual care | BPI-SF | None |
| Zheng, 2015[24] | 35/35 | NR Female |
Breast cancer | NR | Perioperative period | Acupressure massage; Quze, Chize, Neiguan, Shangyang, Jianjing acupoint;13 minutes; 2 times/day; until the patient is discharged (>7 days) | Usual care | VAS | NR |
| Hamid, 2017[25] | 50/50 | MG: 45.80 ± 6.16 Male 25, female 25 CG: 44.10 ± 6.33 Male 23, female 27 |
Leukemia | NR | NR | Acupressure massage; Taichong, Zusanli, Quchi, Hegu; 8 minutes; 3 times/week; 4 weeks |
Usual care | VAS | NR |
| Huang, 2017[26] | 30/30 | MG: 61.40 ± 11.32 Male 18, female 12 CG: 59.17 ± 14.40 Male 16, female 14 |
Colorectal cancer | I–Ⅳ | Perioperative period | Hand acupressure; palmar acupoints (gastrointestinal pain points, spleen points, large intestine points); 54 minutes; 3 times/day; 5 days | Usual care | Abdominal Distension Pain Grading | NR |
| Moloud, 2017[27] | 30/30 | 56.67 ± 10.90 NR |
NR | NR | Perioperative period | Hand acupressure; LI4 point, HT7 point; 4 minutes; 2 times/day; 1 day | Usual care | VAS | None |
| Simin, 2018[28] | 42/42 | MG: 2.500 ± 15.139 Male 23, female 19 CG: 42.100 ± 15.766 Male 23, female 19 |
Hemato- logical malignancies |
NR | NR | Foot reflexology; NR; 30 minutes; 1 time/day; 3 days | The placebo method: sole touching | VAS | NR |
| Nur, 2019[29] |
19/21 | MG: 44.50 ± 10.70 CG: 47.00 ± 9.60 Female |
Breast cancer | NR | Chemotherapy | Classical massage sessions; NR; 30 minutes; 1 time/week; 12 weeks |
Usual care | S-LANSS | None |
| Masoume, 2019[30] | 36/36 | MG: 41.47 ± 13.70 Male 25, female 11 CG: 46.90 ± 15.40 Male 27, female 9 |
Lymphoma | NR | Peri-chemotherapy | Foot reflexology; the thumb toe, under the ball of the foot in the center, the inner and outer edges of the foot, the inner edge of the sole, heel of the ankle; 30 minutes; 1 time/day; 5 days | Usual care | NRS | None |
| Li, 2020[31] |
40/40 | MG: 59.63 Male 26, female 14 CG: 61.18 Male 28, female 12 |
Primary liver cancer | Middle and terminal stage | Perioperative period | Acupressure massage; Taichong, Zusanli, Neiguan; 9 minutes; 2 times/day; 3 days | Usual care | NRS | NR |
| Zhao, 2021[32] | 41/41 | MG: 44.15 ± 1.06 CG: 44.21 ± 1.08 Female |
Breast cancer | NR | Chemotherapy | Tuina therapy; Zhongchong, Jianshi, Neiguan, Tianquan, Daling, Laogong; 20–25minutes; 1 times/day; 4 weeks |
Usual care | Likert-4 | NR |
| Kristen, 2021[33] | 20/20 | NR MG: male 9, female11 CG: male 6, female 14 |
Mixed | NR | Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, other treatments | Foot reflexology; solar plexus, diaphragm, chest, lungs, esophagus, thyroid, helper to thyroid, pituitary gland, stomach, liver, adrenals and gallbladder; 20–25 minutes; 1 time/day; 1 day | Usual care | VAS | NR |
BPI-SF = The Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form, CG = control group, MG = massage group, NR = not reported, NRS = Numerical Rating Scale, SF-MPQ = Short Form of McGill Pain Questionnaire, S-LANSS = Self-Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs, TACE = transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, VAS = visual analog scale.