Assessing the Effectiveness of Foot Reflexology on Anxiety of Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis in Tertiary Care Hospital, Karad, India

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a term used to describe a permanent loss of kidney function. In renal failure, there is a decrease in glomerular filtration rate. The number of health problems and other diseases may cause either form of renal failure to occur. The Objectives of this study:  (1) To assess the level of anxiety among experimental and control groups of patients undergoing hemodialysis. (2) To determine the effectiveness of foot reflexology on anxiety among experimental group of patients undergoing hemodialysis. (3) To find the association between level of anxiety and selected sociodemographical variables among experimental and control groups of patients undergoing hemodialysis. The evaluative research approach was used for this study, and the research design was a quasi-experimental design. The research was carried out in the dialysis unit of Krishna Hospital in Karad. The sample comprises of 40 hemodialysis patients divided into two groups: 20 in the experimental group and 20 in the control group. The sample was chosen using a convenient sampling procedure. The experimental group received foot reflexology twice a week for three weeks, with each session lasting 20 minutes, whereas the control group received hospital regular care. The mean post-test anxiety score in the experimental group was 16.6, while it was 22.55 in the control group, which was considerably higher. The t-test value was 3.50, which was deemed to be significant at the p<0.001level. In the post-test, the values demonstrated a statistically significant difference in anxiety levels between the experimental and control groups. According to the findings of the study, foot reflexology was efficient in reducing anxiety levels.