Massage and exercise increase body awareness in healthy adults: A single blinded randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: Investigation of the effect of a single session of manual massage or exercise on body awareness.

METHODS: A randomized controlled study including 96 volunteers (female 62.5 %; median age: 35, IQR: 28-52 years) assigned to a single intervention of massage (full-body massage), exercise (moderate video-based body workout) or a lecture on medicinal herbs (control group). Primary outcomes were the changes of body awareness recorded with the Awareness Body Chart test. Secondary outcomes were changes in scores of a German questionnaire on self-perception of the body and changes in mood scored with a German questionnaire on mood. Additional questionnaires before the interventions: Demographic data, Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire, Short Form Health Survey and Brief Symptom Inventory.

RESULTS: The Awareness Body Chart total score increased in both intervention groups but not in the control group with significant differences in the change between control group and both other groups (massage vs. control: +0.47, 95 % CI 0.30 to 0.64; exercise vs. control: +0.31, 95 % CI 0.15 to 0.45; massage vs. exercise: +0.19, 95 % CI -0.02 to 0.34). In comparison to the control group an increase of self-perception of the body was found in exercise but not in massage. Mood significantly improved in both intervention groups compared to the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: In this study single session interventions of massage or exercise presented an immediate increase of body awareness and furthermore improvement of mood. The study may serve as a basis for additional research on body awareness, especially in psychiatric disorders.