J Korean Acad Fundam Nurs.  2008 Nov;15(4):504-512.

The Effects of Self Foot Reflexology on Depression, Sleep and Low Back Pain in Community Dwelling Elderly Women

• Eom MR
• Kim EK
• Oh HY
• Kim HS
• Kwak KH

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of self foot reflexology on depression, sleep, and low back pain in elderly women. METHOD: The study was one group pre-posttest design. Data collection was done from December 2007 to January 2008 in D city. The participants were 47 women (65 years of age and over). After two weeks of reflexology education, the women did foot reflexology themselves for approximately 40 minutes, five times a week for four weeks. To verify the effects of foot reflexology, the scores for depression, sleep, and LBP were measured at baseline, after 4 weeks of self-treatment. Repeated measure ANOVA with the SPSS WIN 14.0 program were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
There were significant differences in depression, sleep, and LBP between baseline, after 4 weeks of self-treatment.
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that self foot reflexology could be utilized as an effective nursing intervention for improving depression, sleep, and LBP in elderly women.

Keyword

Reflexology; Depression; Sleep; Low Back Pain (LBP); Aged

MeSH Terms

Aged
Surveys and Questionnaires
Depression
Female
Foot
Humans
Low Back Pain
Massage