Is reflexology as effective as aromatherapy massage for symptom relief in an adult outpatient oncology population?

AimTo test whether reflexology was inferior to aromatherapy massage for ameliorating self-selected problems or concerns.DesignNon-blinded, randomised study with a 1:1 allocation.Adult outpatients recruited from a UK cancer centre, randomised by the minimisation method to either four aromatherapy massage or four reflexology sessions.Outcome measuresMYCaW scores at baseline and completion; VAS (relaxation) pre and post-sessions.AnalysisUnpaired t-test for the primary outcome; analysis of variance tests for repeated measures for VAS (relaxation); descriptive statistics (means and 95% confidence intervals) and content analysis for patient comments.Results115 subjects (58 aromatherapy massage, 57 reflexology) recruited. Reflexology was found to be no less effective than aromatherapy massage for MYCaW first concerns (p = 0.046). There was no statistical difference between groups for MYCaW second concerns or overall well-being scores, proportions of patients gaining clinical benefit, VAS scores over time (p = 0.489) or between groups (p = 0.408) or in the written responses.