NCT06892158

Massage Impact on Sleep in Pediatric Oncology

Massage Impact on Sleep in Hospitalization for Pediatric Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant Patients

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 70 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 12 Years – 21 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study aims to determine the impact of massage therapy for pediatric patients receiving intensive chemotherapy or stem cell transplant (SCT).

Detailed description

Hospitalized pediatric oncology patients report anxiety, pain, disturbed sleep, and excess fatigue. Massage is safe, does not interfere with medications, and has been shown in limited studies to have efficacy in improving sleep as well as decreasing fatigue, anxiety and other symptoms in cancer patients and children with various ailments. This project aims to determine if individualized massage therapy for hospitalized pediatric patients receiving intensive chemotherapy or stem cell transplant (SCT) is associated with longer duration and improved quality of sleep, more robust circadian rhythms (CARs), improved quality of life (QOL) and reduced fatigue, anxiety, and pain, as compared to a standard of care group.

Conditions

• Cancer
• Pediatric Cancer
• Chemotherapy Effect
• Acute Myeloid Leukemia
• Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Pediatric
• Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Massage therapy	Participants in IA will receive a 20-30-minute massage five days per week for 21 days.
OTHER	Standard of care	Institutional standard of care treatment

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-01-23
• Primary completion: 2028-01-01
• Completion: 2028-07-01
• First posted: 2025-03-24
• Last updated: 2026-04-15

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States