Newswise — The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has received a $1.4 million federal grant for a two-year study to determine the optimal dosing regimen of massage that benefits patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
Dr. Adam Perlman, MD, M.P.H., executive director of the Institute for Complementary & Alternative Medicine at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions, is the study's principal investigator. Perlman led a 2006 pilot study which demonstrated that a course of Swedish massage was safe, and decreased pain and increased function, for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Pilot study results were published in Annals of Internal Medicine in December 2006. The new study will build upon that pilot study.
"Safe and effective adjunct treatments for osteoarthritis are extremely important," Perlman said, "in light of the pain and disability caused by this condition, the prevalence (more than 21 million Americans), and the high rates of undesirable side effects associated with current drug treatments." Perlman is the UMDNJ Endowed Professor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Chair of the Department of Primary Care at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions.
According to Perlman, a total of 125 participants will be enrolled in this study. Subjects will be randomly assigned to one of five groups " a usual care group or one of four different massage groups. Among the massage groups, massages will vary by length (one hour versus 30 minutes) and frequency (once a week versus twice a week) over a two-month period.
UMDNJ will soon begin recruiting participants for the Livingston site, where more than half of the participants will be enrolled. Eligible participants should be at least 35 years of age and have x-rays confirming diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the knee. Persons who are interested in participating should call (973) 972-8564.
Like the pilot study, the new study is a collaboration involving UMDNJ, the Saint Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center in Livingston and the Yale Griffin Prevention Research Center. It is funded with an R01 research grant through the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant money is provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The ARRA was signed into law in February 2009 to help stem the current economic crisis.
Research will be conducted at Yale and at the Siegler Center for Integrative Medicine, located within the Saint Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center. Perlman is the founding medical director for the Siegler Center and a member of the Department of Medicine at Saint Barnabas.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
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