We found that Swedish and light touch massage were superior to foot massage, even after controlling for baseline severity and location of treatment. It may be that the effects of touch to the body are more profound than touch given
only to the feet. However, it is also possible that the apparently lesser effects of foot massage reflect a case mix inadequately captured by baseline symptom scores. For example, weak or cachectic patients often receive massage just to
the feet rather than the whole body. Set against such an explanation is that such patients also receive light touch massage.