Correlates of Injury-forced Work Reduction for Massage Therapists and Bodywork Practitioners†

Abstract

Background: Injury-forced work reduction (IFWR) has been acknowledged as an all-toocommon occurrence for massage therapists and bodywork practitioners (M & Bs). However, little prior research has specifically investigated demographic, work attitude, and perceptual correlates of IFWR among M & Bs.Purpose: To test two hypotheses, H1 and H2. H1 is that the accumulated cost variables set ( e.g., accumulated costs, continuing education costs) will account for a significant amount of IFWR variance beyond control/demographic (e.g., social desirability response bias, gender, years in practice, highest education level) and work attitude/perception variables (e.g., job satisfaction, affective occupation commitment, occupation identification, limited occupation alternatives) sets. H2 is that the two exhaustion variables (i.e., physical exhaustion, work exhaustion) set will account for significant IFWR variance beyond control/demographic, work attitude/perception, and accumulated cost variables sets.Research Design and Participants: An online survey sample of 2,079 complete-data M & Bs was collected. Stepwise regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. The research design first controlled for control/demographic (Step1) and work attitude/perception variables sets (Step 2), before then testing for the successive incremental impact of two variable sets, accumulated costs (Step 3) and exhaustion variables (Step 4) for explaining IFWR.Results: Results supported both study hypotheses: accumulated cost variables set (H1) and exhaustion variables set (H2) each significantly explained IFWR after the control/demographic and work attitude/perception variables sets. The most important correlate for explaining IFWR was higher physical exhaustion, but work exhaustion was also significant. It is not just physical "wear and tear", but also "mental fatigue", that can lead to IFWR for M & Bs. Being female, having more years in practice, and having higher continuing education costs were also significant correlates of IFWR.Conclusions: Lower overall levels of work exhaustion, physical exhaustion, and IFWR were found in the present sample. However, since both types of exhaustion significantly and positively impact IFWR, taking sufficient time between massages and, if possible, varying one's massage technique to replenish one's physical and mental energy seem important. Failure to take required continuing education units, due to high costs, also increases risk for IFWR. Study limitations and future research issues are discussed.

Foot Reflexology: Recent Research Trends and Prospects

“…A study of clinicians showed that, on average, physicians consider CAM to be moderately effective, and 23.3% of them consider it to be an effective method of treatment [12] and would recommend it to their patients. The most common reasons for recommendation are to relax musculoskeletal pain, chronic disease, and nerve pain [13][14][15]. There is a worldwide shift in the attitude towards CAM due to its use as secondary care and integration into mainstream medical care [16].…”

Barriers and Facilitators of Implementing Injury Prevention Practices by Massage Therapists

“…2 This relates to recognized occupational risk factors for increased musculoskeletal injury among MTs including work duration, amount of daily client contact, lack of self-care practices, and fatigue. 6,7,10 In addition, employment in massage therapy has many of the attributes of precarious employment, 11,12 given the lower gross wages, 2 high rate of underemployment (persons working part-time but are seeking full-time employment), 1,13 low employee benefits (ie, sick leave, paid time off, insurance), 1 high risk of sexual harassment at work, 14 and the large proportion of MTs employed as independent contractors. 1,2 Precarious work is directly associated with lower job satisfaction, psychological stress, and higher work-related injury rates.…”

“…For massage therapists, while average hourly rates charged per customer are relatively high ($72/h), 1 earned hourly rates vary widely across the industry 1 with an adjusted gross earned hourly rate of $21.41 for all MTs 2 . This relates to recognized occupational risk factors for increased musculoskeletal injury among MTs including work duration, amount of daily client contact, lack of self-care practices, and fatigue 6,7,10 . In addition, employment in massage therapy has many of the attributes of precarious employment, 11,12 given the lower gross wages, 2 high rate of underemployment (persons working part-time but are seeking full-time employment), 1,13 low employee benefits (ie, sick leave, paid time off, insurance), 1 high risk of sexual harassment at work, 14 and the large proportion of MTs employed as independent contractors 1,2 .…”