Effectiveness of swedish massage on improvement of mood disorders among women with breast cancer

Aim of the study: Is to assess the effectiveness of Swedish massage on improvement of mood disorders among women with breast Cancer. Background: Breast cancer and its treatment are associated with several complications, the most common being pain and psychological distress, which includes concerns about the illness and declining health, disturbances in concentration, loss of appetite, depression, anxiety and anger. Massage is one of the most common and suited non-medical interventions in cancer patients. Design: One group pre test post test design Methods: Non probability convenience sampling technique was used to select 30 samples. Data was collected using structured interview questionnaire and the Modified Affective Control Scale (ACS) was used to assess the level of mood disorders. Swedish massage was given for a period of 15 minutes daily for 2weeks. At the end of the second week, post test was done using the same Modified Affective Control Scale (ACS) to assess the level of mood disorders. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Result: The findings of the study revealed that in the pre test the mean and standard deviation for anger was 33.46±10.13, whereas in the post test it was 24.1±8.40 and the calculated ‘t’ value was 12.57 which was found to be statistically highly significant at p<0.001 level. Also in the pre test the mean and standard deviation for depression was 33.7±11.40, whereas in the post test it was 27.5±10.77 and the calculated ‘t’ value was 15.32 which was found to be statistically highly significant at p<0.001 level. And for anxiety in the pre test the mean and standard deviation was 62.17±18.01, whereas in the post test it was 47.92±16.02 respectively and the calculated ‘t’ value was 21.43 which was found to be statistically highly significant at p<0.001 level. There were no statistically significant association found between the post test level of mood disorders with the selected demographic variables. Conclusion: The study findings reveal that there was a significant improvement in the mood disorders after the intervention which showed that Swedish massage was effective in improvement of mood disorders among women with breast cancer.