History of the Massage Therapy Foundation Massage Therapy Research Database^SM

The Massage Therapy Research Database^SM (the "Database") was conceived as a supporting project for the Massage Research Agenda Workgroup. The objective of the Workgroup—a gathering of massage therapists, medical professionals, and researchers—was to chart an agenda for research about massage therapy. The Workgroup’s recommendations appear in the Fall 2001 issue of Massage Therapy Journal.

In June 1998, the American Massage Therapy Association awarded the Massage Therapy Foundation^SM (the "Foundation") an initial grant to begin compiling the Database. The Foundation’s goal is for the Database to become the primary source of citations to articles about massage therapy. Of primary importance are articles that have appeared in peer-reviewed research journals. This is because peer-reviewed research is the best means of validating the efficacy of massage therapy. Articles from journals that are not peer-reviewed also serve as an important part of the literature on massage. In addition, the Foundation hand-searched historical indexes for relevant citations, such as the Index Medicus ®. The Database is international in scope; many citations are to articles published in journals from countries all around the world, many not yet translated into English.

In early 2000, the Foundation compiled the first batch of citations. Since that time, Foundation staff has updated and refined the Database in preparation for its premier at the 2001 AMTA National Convention. The Database currently contains citations to more than 4,800 articles and books about massage therapy, and will be updated on a quarterly basis. A team of massage therapists, physicians, and researchers served as a peer-review committee and has evaluated each citation for appropriateness to the profession. The Foundation has produced an informational and instructional brochure about how to use the Database. Since October 2001, the Database is available without charge and is only available through the Foundation’s web site.

In spring of 2006, a new feature was added to the website that allows users access to live PubMed searches in real-time. The addition of this resource has changed the way the Database is updated. Beginning in 2006, only non-Medline indexed journals undergo peer review and are added to the Database. The reason for this change is that PubMed is an immense resource that has grown since the inception of the Database. Users can more readily access new citations on PubMed. However, non-Medline indexed citations are more difficult to locate and therefore have become the focus of semi-annual additions to the Database.

As funding permits, the Foundation plans to develop and improve the Database in response to the needs of massage therapists and researchers by:

• Providing summaries of the research about various topics.
• Sponsoring translations of articles that originally appeared in foreign languages.
• Developing meta-analyses of quantitative data.

This future development is dependent upon your support.

We invite your comments and suggestions about how the Database can be more helpful to you. Please contact us.

Special Recognition

The Massage Therapy Foundation^SM thanks the many volunteers who have contributed to the Database. Without their dedication, the Database would not be a reality today.

Martha Brown Menard, PhD and Janet R. Kahn, PhD conceived the idea for the Database and spearheaded its initial development.

Rena Margulis, Karl Berger, Rebecca Knighton, and Wayne Mylin of the American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia evaluated citations about Asian bodywork therapies. Dr. Maeve O’Beirne of the University of Calgary also assisted the citation review process.

The Database was initially funded by a generous grant from the American Massage Therapy Association.