The effect of energy from reiki treatments on sleep quality for patients with breast and prostate cancer on hormone therapy.

e24076 Background: Manypatients with cancer receiving hormone therapy experience difficulty with sleeping and insomnia. Reiki is a technique where therapy is delivered to the patient with either no or very light physical touch whereas traditional massage therapy uses pressure and movement by the therapist to manipulate soft tissue. Both Reiki and traditional massage therapy have been shown by others to be effective in providing benefits in sleep quality. This study is the first to compare changes in sleep quality after massage and Reiki treatments in patients with prostate and breast cancer receiving hormone therapy. Methods: Eighty-seven, breast (n = 56) and prostate cancer (n = 31), patients receiving hormone therapy experiencing self-reported fatigue ≥4/10were included in this randomized controlled trial (RCT). Patients were randomized into one of three treatment arms for 4-weeks: Arm 1 received two massage treatments, Arm 2 received two Reiki treatments and Arm 3 received four Reiki treatments. Each treatment session was approximately 75 minutes. . Participants with a baseline score of ( ≥8) on the ISI were included in this analysis. Results: 75% of all enrolled participants (n = 65) met the inclusion criteria for baseline clinically meaningful insomnia. Both Reiki and massage provided improvement in sleep quality from pre to post intervention and there was no difference between 2 and 4 Reiki sessions. Reiki significantly increased sleep quality (p > .01) with a mean decrease in total ISI score of 2.96. Massage therapy showed a trend towards improved sleep quality (p = 0.06) with a mean decrease in ISI score of 1.95. There was a clinically meaningful decrease in total ISI score (≥6) in 15% of those who received massage therapy compared to 25% in the reiki therapy group. Conclusions: Four weeks of Reiki significantly improved sleep quality in patients with breast and prostate cancer receiving hormone therapy. Reiki may be a better non-pharmacologic therapeutic for improving sleep quality. Clinical trial information: NCT02758756 .