Massage Therapy for Anxiety Reduction: A Systematic Review

Massage therapy frequently applied for different types of disorders and symptoms. A variety of massage intervention have been used among hospitalized patients with different disorder and public in order to decrease the anxiety level. The aim of this systematic review was to find the evidence of the effectiveness of  massage therapy in anxiety reduction. Abstract of all articles identified from electronic searches were read. Articles clearly not meeting the inclusion criteria were filtered out. From the 1022 papers, 1006 studies were excluded. The remaining 16 papers were included in this systematic review to prove that massage therapy is effective in anxiety reduction. The finding of the review of 16 studies proving that massage therapy helps to reduce anxiety. In conclusion, massage helps a person to relieving discomfort and  providing physical and psychological benefits.

Keywords: massage therapy, anxiety reduction, psychological.