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Download PDF: Complete Report, Executive Summary, Report, Appendices, Supplementary Materials
This evidence map synthesized 14 systematic reviews of massage therapy for non-painful adult health conditions published since 2018. High-certainty evidence indicates that massage therapy may improve functional constipation. Moderate-certainty evidence supports potential benefits for improving sleep quality in cancer and chronic kidney disease populations as well as reducing depressive symptoms among individuals living with dementia. Across included reviews, no serious adverse events were commonly reported. These findings highlight both promising applications for massage therapy and the need for additional high-quality studies to advance the field.
Massage therapy is widely used as a complementary health approach to manage symptoms of chronic and acute conditions. Despite its popularity, the evidence base regarding its effectiveness for non-pain-related health conditions varies in quality and scope. This report aimed to map and appraise recent systematic reviews that explicitly rated the certainty of evidence for massage therapy's effects. By doing so, the evidence map provides practitioners and researchers with an updated overview of where massage therapy shows the most promise and where evidence gaps remain.
We identified 14 systematic reviews published between July 2018 and July 2024, covering 9 health conditions including dementia, functional constipation, hypertension, kidney disease, and others. Among these reviews, 1 review found high-certainty evidence that massage therapy benefits functional constipation and 3 reviews reported moderate-certainty evidence supporting massage therapy's potential benefit on sleep quality in cancer patients, sleep quality in chronic kidney disease, and depression in individuals living with dementia. Remaining reviews provided low or very low-certainty conclusions or did not assess certainty. Half of the reviews collected data on adverse events, and none reported serious harms. One review on auricular acupressure for constipation rated adverse event evidence as low certainty. Overall, this evidence map underscores that while massage therapy shows promise for select health conditions, more rigorous studies are needed to strengthen the evidence base and inform practice.
Evidence Map of Massage Therapy and Acupressure for Non-Painful Health Conditions (Management Brief)
Mak SS, Allen JE, Begashaw MM, Beroes-Severin JM, Miake-Lye IM, Shekelle PG. Use of Massage Therapy for Non-Painful Health Conditions: An Evidence Map of Systematic Reviews. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies. 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-026-05525-w.
