The Effects of Foot Reflexology on Sleep Quality, Pain and Muscle Strength in Community Dwelling Female Elderly Eom Mi-Ran1, Kim Sun Kyung2,*, Kim Sun-Ae3, Park Mi Hyeon4, Namkim Oe5 1Professor, Department of Nursing, Mokpo National University, Korea 2Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Mokpo National University, Korea 3Assistant professor, Department of Nursing, Korea National University of Transportation, Korea 4Assistant professor, Department of Nursing, Pohang University, Korea 5Assistant professor, Department of Nursing, Youngnam Foreign Language College, Korea *Corresponding author: Sun Kyung Kim, Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Mokpo National University, Korea e-mail: skkim@mokpo.ac.kr
Online published on 4 June, 2019. Abastract Background/Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of footreflexology as a nursing intervention, on sleep quality, joint pain, and muscle strength among female elders living in the community. Methods/Statistical analysis A quasi-experimental study was conducted using pre-posttest design. Participants were 35 female elders (aged 65 and over), allocated to control group (n=18) and experimental group (n=17). Thirty minute foot reflexology intervention was implemented three times per week for 4 weeks fora total of 12 sessions. Sleep quality, joint pain, and muscle strength weremeasured at baseline, after 2weeks, and at the completion of the 4-week intervention. Using SPSS WIN 14.0, independent t-tests was used for homogeneity and paired t-testswere conducted to analyze effects of the intervention. Findings Statistically significant differences emerged in all dependent variables. The scores for sleep quality in the experimental group increased by 8.76±3.98 after 4 weeks (t=-4.97, p=.000). The joint-pain level of the experimental group decreased by 7.18±3.64 after 4 weeks (t=4.471, p=.000). The scores of the experimental group for leg-muscle strength increased by 11.71±2.64 after 4 weeks (t=14.60, p=.000). Improvements/Applications The findings suggest that foot reflexology was effective for female elders, improving sleep quality, reducing joint pain, and increasing muscle strength. As a nursing intervention, good use of foot reflexology would be a good health-promotion strategy for female eldersin the community. Top Keywords Foot reflexology, sleep quality, pain, muscle strength, female, elders. Top |