Toth 2013.

Methods	Study design: RCT Country: USA Total: 39 randomised (massage group n = 20, no touch n = 10, usual care n = 9)
Participants	Population: people with metastatic cancer Setting: home Mean age: 54.9 years (massage group), 55.6 years (usual care)
Interventions	Intervention: massage therapy (touch intervention) Comparison no touch intervention with no therapeutic intention or usual care Country of training: not reported Years in practice: minimum 3 years full‐time or 5 years part‐time practice
Outcomes	Primary outcomes: Pain‐Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) Anxiety‐VAS Alertness‐VAS Secondary outcome: QoL
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	High risk	Quote: "patients were randomized"
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Assessed the same outcomes (Pain‐VAS, Anxiety‐VAS, Alertness‐VAS)
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not reported
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Insufficient information provided
Size	High risk	n = 39
Other bias	Low risk	No other significant bias found