The Effect of Foot Reflexology on the Severity of Musculoskeletal Pain and Fatigue of Nursing Staff: A Clinical Trial Study

Due to the nature of tasks, nursing is a job with a high prevalence of skeletal and muscular disorders, which increased skeletal muscle pain and fatigue. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of foot reflexology on the severity of skeletal and muscular pain and fatigue of nursing staff.

In this clinical trial study, all nurses in NEZAJA in the southwest of Iran (60 nurses) were selected between August and January 2017 according to the entry criteria and then randomly assigned to two groups of intervention and control. For the intervention group, according to the location of the pain, the foot reflexology protocol was administered during 9 sessions for 3 weeks and 3 sessions of 30 minutes per week. Data collection tools included a demographic information questionnaire, Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, numerical scale of pain intensity and fatigue.

The results of our study also showed that out of 9 parts of the body, the intensity of pain in the neck (P=<0.001), back (P=0.003), knees (P=0.010), feet (P=0.002), thigh (P=<0.001) and hand (P=<0.001) after reflexology was significantly reduced in the intervention group compared to the control group. Reflexology also reduced fatigue in the intervention group, but this reduction was not statistically significant compared to the control group (P=0.129).

The results showed that reflexology reduced the severity of musculoskeletal pain in some parts of the body and reduced fatigue. Therefore, it is recommended that foot reflexology be used as a simple and cost-effective method to reduce the severity of skeletal and muscular pain in nurses.