The concept of ‘dose’ has never been formally defined
for massage. Prior to determining specific study protocols,
the manualization team had to operationally define ‘dose’
of massage therapy. If dose, for example, was defined only
by the length of time, it may be assumed that a single
60-min session and two 30-min sessions would be equivalent.
This assumption was tested by assessing the effects
of frequency of massage therapy. Thus, in our manualization
process, two variables germane to dosing were
assessed: frequency of massage therapy and duration of
treatment. Frequency was varied between weekly or biweekly
sessions, based on practicality and current practice
standards. Duration of treatment was negotiated by the
expert panel to provide a dose that is clinically effective
while avoiding possible overtreatment