Purpose: To investigate the effects of foot reflexology massage on sleep and fatigue of elderly women.
Method: The study was performed from April thru July of 2004 on the nonequivalent control group non-synchronized quasi-experimental design. Fifty elderly women were selected for each group. The foot reflexology massage was performed for 45 minutes every three days for experimental group . The data were analyzed using the Cronbach’s α, Chi-Square test, t-test and Repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni.
Result: 1. The sleep score of the experiment group is significantly higher than that of the control group(t=-5.944, p=.000). 2 .For the experiment group, it is seen that the sleep score increases as the frequency of the foot reflexology massage increases(F=96.362, p=.000). 3. The fatigue score of the experiment group is significantly lower than that of the control group(t=4.356, p=.000). 4. For the experiment group, the fatigue is relieved gradually as the frequency of the foot reflexology massage increases(F= 118.444, p=.000).
Conclusion: Based on the results described above, it is considered that the foot reflexology massage is effective for elderly women in promoting a good sleep and relieving the fatigue.
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