Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis: Benefits from Massage Therapy.

Tiffany Field,2 Maria Hernandez-Reif, Susan Seligman, Josh Krasnegor, and William Sunshine
University of Miami School of Medicine
Rafael Rivas-Chacon
Miami Children's Hospital
Saul Schanberg and Cynthia Kuhn
Duke University Medical School
Received October 2. 1996; accepted February 25, 1997
Studied children with mild to moderate juvenile rheumatoid arthritis who were massaged by their parents 15 minutes a day for 30 days (and a control group engaged in relaxation therapy). The children's anxiety and stress hormone (cor- tisol) levels were immediately decreased by the massage, and over the 30-day period their pain decreased on self-reports, parent reports, and their physician s assessment of pain (both the incidence and severity) and pain-limiting
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is the most common rheumatic disease of childhood and one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood (Cassidy & Petty, 1995; Lovell & Walco, 1989). The JRA diagnosis is based on the observation of persistent arthritis (6 or more weeks duration) in one or more
'This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Award MHOO33I to Tiffany Field and a grant from Johnson & Johnson. The authors thank the subjects, parents, and researchers who participated in this study.
2AII correspondence should be sent to Tiffany Field, Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, P.O. Box 016820, Miami, Florida 33101.
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