Objective

To assess the effect of traditional therapeutic massage on the functional capacity of elderly adults in a residential care facility.

Methods

Quasi-experimental, longitudinal and quantitative study. The elderly adults' functional capacity was assessed before and after the classic therapeutic massage using Barthel's index. Cronbach alpha turned out to be 0.95. The sampling was by convenience and not probabilistic. In total, 15 studied elderly adults were randomly assigned to a control group and a study group using Epidat 3.1. Descriptive and not parametric analysis was performed using Wilcoxon T and Mann Whitney U tests with the SPSS v.19 program.

Results

The average age was 84.14 ± 9.68 and 80.25 ± 10.49 in the control and study groups respectively. Seventy-three percent were masculine. The Wilcoxon test results were Z = 0, P = 1 in the control group, and Z = 2.47, P = .01 in the experimental group. The Mann Whitney test result was U = 0.5, P = .001. The study group post-test showed a significant increase in the functional capacity. There are not many similar works in the literature; however some research studies have demonstrated that therapeutic massage is effective in improving movement and gripping strength, and also in reducing pain among elderly adults.

Conclusions

Traditional therapeutic massage is effective in increasing the functional capacity of institutionalized elderly adults.