A few published reports of implementing standardized
Swedish massage regimens in randomized trials exist. Patterson
et al. published a standardized massage (and control)
regimen in a clinical trial assessing fatigue reduction
in cancer chemotherapy, though no results have been
published [36]. Sharpe et al. published the results of a
pilot randomized trial assessing the effects of a standardized
Swedish massage regimen vs. guided relaxation on
stress and wellbeing in a pilot study (n=54) [42], though
there are no reports of implementing this regimen in a
larger sample. Taylor et al. also report using a standardized
Swedish massage protocol though the protocol was
not described to the point that the intervention could be
reproduced [43]. Cherkin et al. assessed a standardized
Swedish protocol (‘relaxation massage’) [44], other massage
techniques (‘structural massage’), and continuing
usual care in a three-arm randomized controlled trial for
patients with chronic back pain. Both massage regimens
were found to be superior to usual care, with no clinically
meaningful differences seen between the relaxation and
structural massage arms [7]