Article

Objective: To examine the feasibility of delivering reflexology to people
moderately to severely affected by multiple sclerosis and to investigate the
effect on a range of symptoms. Methods: A pilot single-blind randomized placebo
controlled trial. Setting: An outpatient multiple sclerosis rehabilitation
centre. Subjects: Twenty people moderately to severely affected by multiple
sclerosis were randomized into one of two groups receiving either reflexology or
sham reflexology. Intervention: Each participant received 8 weeks, 1 hour per
week of either reflexology or sham reflexology. Main measures: Primary outcome
measure was the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS29). Secondary measures
assessed a range of symptoms at baseline, 8 weeks and 16 weeks. Results: There
were no statistically significant differences between the two groups at either 8
(P = 0.538) or 16 (P = 0.112) weeks for the primary outcome measure; however,
both groups demonstrated small improvements from 92.3 (SD 20.9) to 75.6 (SD 3.3)
with reflexology, and 91.3 (SD 29.9) to 81.5 (+/-18.5) with sham reflexology
group after 8 weeks of treatment. Small improvements were noted in most of the
secondary outcome measures at 8 weeks. There was no difference between the groups
at 8 weeks except for bladder function (P = 0.003) and most scores returned to
baseline at follow-up. Conclusions: The results do not support the use of
reflexology for symptom relief in a more disabled multiple sclerosis population
and are strongly suggestive of a placebo response.
This study demonstrates,
however, that reflexology can be delivered and is well tolerated by people who
are moderately to severely affected by multiple sclerosis.

Langue : ANGLAIS