Studying the effect of progressive muscle relaxation technique on fatigue in hemodialysis patients – Kermanshah- Iran

Abstract

Background: Renal chronic disease is a major challenge to public health all around the world. Despite the development of sundry renal replacement therapies, the patients usually complaint about disabling symptoms and low quality of life. In fact, fatigue is one of the most annoying and disabling symptoms in dialysis patients. Therefore, the present study is an attempt to determine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation technique on fatigue in hemodialysis patients. Methods: A clinical trial study to measure the effect of progressive muscle relaxation technique on fatigue in 65 hemodialysis patients in Imam Reza Hospital (Kermanshah) was carried out in 2011. The participants were grouped in experiment and control groups. The brief fatigue inventory was used for data gathering, and the data were analyzed in SPSS-16. Results: There was no significant difference between the mean changes of fatigue before and after progressive muscle relaxation in control and experiment groups (P ≥ 0.05). However, the difference between scores of fatigue before and after the intervention in the experiment group was significant (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Although progressive muscle relaxation improved fatigue in the patients in the experiment group, the difference between the control and experiment groups was not significant. Failure to control some of the effective factors might be the reason for the result.