The effect of foot reflexology massage on overt anxiety and physiological parameters of patients undergoing tibia plaque surgery

Anxiety and hemodynamic changes are common complications of surgeries. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of foot reflexology massage on overt anxiety and physiological parameters of patients undergoing tibia plaque surgery.

In this clinical trial study, 96 eligible patients who were candidates for Tibia plaque surgery, referred to Imam Ali (AS) Teaching Hospital in Bojnourd in the spring of 2016, were selected by the convenience sampling method. Then, they were randomly divided into two groups of 48 people: experiment and control. For the experiment group, one hour before the operation, the foot reflexology massage was performed for 10 minutes. For the control group, the foot was touched for 2 minutes. Patients’ anxiety was measured using the Spielberger Manifest Anxiety Questionnaire before and one hour after the intervention, and patients’ physiological parameters were measured before and after the intervention and at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 hours after the surgery. To compare and analyze the data, chi-square tests for qualitative variables and t-test, Mann-Whitney test and Repeated Measure ANOVA for quantitative variables were used on the SPSS software version 21.

This study showed that the average score of anxiety after the intervention was significantly different in both the control and experiment groups (P=0.038). Also, Foot reflexology massage significantly reduced systolic blood pressure after the intervention (P=0.039) and 4 hours after the surgery (P=0.007), and also reduced diastolic blood pressure immediately after the intervention (P=0.001). Heart rate decreased significantly at all measured times after the intervention (P<0.05).

Foot reflexology massage can reduce overt anxiety and improve physiological parameters of patients undergoing tibia plaque surgery. Therefore, this method can be used for reducing anxiety in the patients candidate for orthopedic surgery.