This trial thus established an ‘optimal-practical’ dose
(60-min once-weekly) of this manualized Swedish massage
regimen for osteoarthritis of the knee. This decision
was based on the superiority of the 60-min
compared to 30-min regimens, the essentially similar
outcomes of the two 60-min doses, the convenience of
a once-weekly protocol (compared to biweekly), cost
savings, and consistency with a typical real-world massage
protocol [39].
This optimized dose of manualized Swedish massage
therapy is currently being implemented in a large-scale
(n=222) NIH-funded 52-week efficacy trial of massage
therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee at three clinical
sites [40].