The effect of massage on patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a long-term and complex chronic disease that seriously affects the physical and mental health and quality of life of patients. Massage, as one of the methods in traditional Chinese medicine, can treat both symptoms and root causes and is widely used to treat CFS. The main purpose is to systematically evaluate the impact of massage therapy on the efficacy and safety of CFS patients, providing a reference for clinical practice. Methods: By searching for literature published in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Wanfang Database, VIP Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database until November 2023, randomized controlled trial studies were selected according to the established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Cochrane system evaluation manual was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies, and RevMan5.4 software was used for meta-analysis. Results: 32 randomized controlled trials were included, with a total of 2594 CFS patients. Meta-analysis showed that the total score of the fatigue scale (FS-14) in the treatment group, MD = −1.59, 95% CI (−1.84, −1.34), P < .00001; Physical fatigue score, MD = −1.30, 95% CI (−1.60, −1.00), P < .00001; Mental fatigue score, MD = −0.84, 95% CI (−0.99, −0.72), P < .0001]; Effective rate [RR = 1.23, 95% CI (1.19,1.28), P < .00001]; all indicators were superior to the control group, Only one study reported adverse reactions, including local swelling, skin bruising, and nausea. Conclusion: Our research findings suggest that massage therapy has a significant therapeutic effect on CFS, avoiding adverse reactions and improving fatigue symptoms. Therefore, massage therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome should be further promoted and applied.