March 2005

Survey: Americans like massage therapy

Massage therapists elicit an impressive level of goodwill and increasing popularity among American adults. Fully two out of five adults have visited a massage therapist and 12 percent received at least one massage in 2004, putting massage on a par with consumer use of chiropractic and physical therapy services.

Compared to the 12 percent of adults who reported visiting a massage therapist in 2004, the survey found that 13 percent went to a chiropractor and 10 percent to a physical therapist. Of those who received massage in 2004, their average number of visits was nine — quite similar to frequency numbers for individuals accessing chiropractic (10) and physical therapy (11) services.

These results come from a January 2005 national telephone survey of a representative sample of 1,027 adults age 21 and older. The study was commissioned by Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) and conducted by Harstad Strategic Research, Inc., the national public opinion research firm in Boulder, Colo.

Massage therapists are especially popular among adults under age 50 (58 percent favorable) and women (also 58 percent favorable). Those favorably disposed include two-thirds of women under age 45 and two-thirds of women with at least two years of college. Those least favorable and least familiar with massage therapists are age 65 plus (37 percent favorable).

The 12 percent finding contrasts with two recent studies of the same behavior which produced widely divergent estimates. An August 2004 Opinion Research Corporation study commissioned by the American Massage Therapy Association estimated 21 percent received a massage that year, while a 2002 National Institutes of Health study found only 5 percent of adults received a massage for health reasons during the prior 12 months.

“A lot has to do with how the questions are framed and phrased,” says Paul Harstad, president of Harstad Strategic Research, Inc. “The NIH survey asked about massage received ‘for your own health,’ which phrasing may have limited affirmative answers since many people receive a massage for relaxation or enjoyment and may not perceive it as for their health per se. The Opinion Research Corporation survey solely asked about receiving a massage. It isn’t clear whether that survey distinguished between massage work provided by a massage therapist versus other healthcare professionals, whose inclusion would drive up the affirmative response rate.”

“In the 2005 telephone survey conducted for ABMP, visitation with massage therapists was posed in a battery amongst other healthcare providers — which approach often reduces any possible respondent resistance or inclination to provide socially acceptable answers,” Harstad said.

Source: Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals, www.Massagetherapy.com

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