Therapeutic Massage for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Status

Completed

Phases

Phase 1Phase 2

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00515242

Acronym

CALM

Enrollment

Registered

2007-08-13

Start date

2007-09-30

Completion date

2009-08-31

Last updated

2017-10-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Keywords

massage therapy, relaxation treatments

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to compare the relative effectiveness of three relaxation treatments (therapeutic massage, thermotherapy, and time in a relaxing environment) in reducing anxiety in persons with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Detailed description

Anxiety and stress are costly problems that afflict millions of American adults. Together, they are among the most common reasons for which adults use complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies as well as more conventional relaxation therapies. Although massage is one of the most popular CAM treatments for anxiety, its effectiveness for this problem has never been rigorously evaluated. This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of massage as a treatment for a diagnosed anxiety disorder. Massage will be compared with two other relaxing treatments: thermotherapy and time in a relaxing environment, which reflect the types of activities that persons with anxiety might try to relieve their symptoms.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALmassage

therapeutic massage

BEHAVIORALthermotherapy

heat therapy

BEHAVIORALrelaxing environment

time in a relaxing environment

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 70 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Member of Group Health, Seattle metropolitan area * Generalized Anxiety Disorder confirmed by SCID * At least moderate anxiety

Exclusion criteria

* Serious mental health co-morbidity * Any life threatening condition * Currently receiving psychotherapy * Substantial alcohol use * Contraindications for massage

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
anxiety	6 months

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
worry, depression, disability	6 months

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026