Effectiveness of Oriental Massage on Daily Living Activities of Stroke Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Oriental massage can improve activities of daily living (ADL) and health outcomes in other chronic illness populations, yet similar studies are lacking in stroke populations. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of oriental massage on ADL in patients with stroke. METHODS This study was a systematic literature review and meta-analysis and searched the primary research studies published electronically in Thai and English through five databases: ThaiJO, Thai National Research Repository (TNRR), PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. We analyzed data using RevMan version 5.4 by forest plot graphs. The confidence interval was calculated at the 95% level, and the heterogeneity was tested by Cochran’s Q and I2. RESULTS We identified seven relevant studies that performed ADL on stroke patients after receiving Thai or Chinese massage therapy interventions. We found that Thai and Chinese massage were applied together, emphasizing pressing, rolling, squeezing, gripping, bending, and pulling and herbal compress, which can increase blood flow and reduce muscle spasms. These findings suggest that the duration of massage at 3-weeks and 6-weeks follow-ups can be restored and improve the ability to perform ADL in stroke patients.