A self-administered moxibustion-cum-massage intervention for older adults with chronic pain in the community: a randomized controlled trial

Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of a simple, self‐administrable moxibustion‐cum‐massage intervention for relieving chronic pain and improving psychological well‐being for older adults in the community. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Setting: Seventy‐eight participants with chronic pain were randomly assigned to the intervention and waitlist control groups. Interventions: Participants received two moxa sticks a day to use the moxibustion‐cum‐massage procedure with the help of trained volunteers or caregivers for five consecutive days. Main outcome measures: Participates’ pain level, sleep quality, depression and subjective well‐being were measured before the intervention (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1), and one week after the intervention (T2). Results: Repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant group × time interaction effect in subjective well‐being with a medium effect size. Regarding within‐group effects in the intervention group at post‐intervention (T1), the subjective pain level was significantly reduced with a small effect size, while sleep quality and depression significantly improved with large effect sizes. The control group showed no significant within‐group effects in these variables. Maintenance effects at follow‐up (T2) were not significant. Conclusion: Despite the short intervention timeframe of five days, the study revealed preliminary evidence that the moxibustion‐cum‐massage intervention can be an effective, self‐administrable pain relief regime for older adults. A longer period of intervention time is suggested for future studies.