The effect of foot reflexology massage on vital signs and anxiety related to injection during chemotherapy in children

Cancer is a common disease in children. Chemotherapy as one of the most important treatments for cancer, can lead to anxiety and negative physiologic reactions. The current study aimed to determine the effect of foot reflexology massage on vital signs and anxiety after chemotherapy in children.
The current randomized clinical trial study was conducted on children of 6-12 years old with leukemia undergoing chemotherapy reffered to oncology center in Kerman in 2015. 120 children were recruited by convenience sampling and were randomly allocated into three groups of 40 persons. The intervention was done as a 20-minute session of foot reflexology massage for intervention group and simple touch for the placebo group immediately before the injection. The vital signs and anxiety of patients in three groups were measured immediately before and after the intervention through using the vital sign record form and Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress – Revised. The data were analyzed through using Kruskal-Wallis tests, chi-square, Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney and Spearman correlation coefficient in SPSS16 .
After the intervention, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, , heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature (p Foot reflexology massage as a non-pharmacological method can reduce anxiety and improve the vital signs in children with leukemia, during the chemotherapy drug injection.