Effect of Reflex Therapy on Stress and Blood Pressure among Older Adults with Hypertension

Abstract

Aims: Reflex therapy relieves tension, relaxes the mind, improves the circulation of the body. In hypertension, vascular resistance increases the pressure of the blood vessels. The study was aimed to assess the pretest and post-test levels of stress and blood pressure (BP), evaluate the effectiveness of the reflex therapy among older adults with hypertension, and to associate the level of stress and BP with demographic variables.
 Study Design: Community-based randomized controlled trial was adopted.
 Place and Duration of Study: The urban area, Poonamallee, in Chennai, between October to December 2019.
 Methodology: Among 100 older adults, 50 participants were selected in each experimental and control group by using simple randomization. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and dual function BP monitor was used to assess the stress and BP respectively. Reflex therapy was provided for 6 weeks to the older adults with hypertension, who had low and moderate levels of stress in the experimental group. The different pressures such as 100%, 75%, and 50%, that was applied in the foot for 15 minutes weekly twice by reflexology stick, when the participants were in an empty stomach. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
 Results: The mean and standard deviation value of pretest and post-test stress level was 14.84±6.02, 9.4±4.73 in experimental group, 13.32±5.3 and 13.04±5.09 in control group respectively. This proves that reflex therapy was effective in reducing stress levels which was statistically significant (P=0.001). Mean and standard deviation of systolic BP in pretest and post-test was 142.74±5.98 and 137.78±5.69; 141.11±6.18 and 142.03±6.29, and diastolic BP was 98.21±3.28; 97.31±3.15 and 97.94±3.59; 98.96±3.34 in experimental and control group respectively indicated that the reflex therapy helps to reduce the level of BP (P=0.001).
 Conclusion: Reflex therapy is beneficial to older adults particularly with hypertension for relieving stress and reducing systolic and diastolic BP.

The Effects of Foot Reflexology on Vital Signs: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…For quality assessment, in terms of random sequence generation, incomplete outcome data and selective reporting in all studies demonstrated a low risk of bias. Two studies [ 11 , 18 ] (<25%) had a high risk of bias in terms of blinding participants and personnel. We observed that >50% of studies had an unclear risk of bias for allocation concealment, blinding of participants and personnel, and blinding of outcome assessment ( Figure 2 ).…”

“…Furthermore, chronic stress and high anxiety levels are associated with altered physiological states, especially in the autonomic nervous system, which can lead to high HR, hypertension, and CVD [32,33]. Several RCTs have reported that foot reflexology affects cardiovascular-related parameters and reduces patient fatigue, but the results are inconsistent [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine…”

“…e technique is well-known in many countries such as China, India, and ailand. Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have reported that foot reflexology influences BP, HR, RR, and SpO 2 , but with conflicting results [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Given relatively small sample sizes and these conflicting results, comprehensive conclusions have not been identified.…”

Effect of Reflexology versus Aerobic Training on Insomnia Severity Index and Quality of Life in Hypertensive Patients

“…Foot reflexology has been found to be an effective method for reducing SBP and triglycerides and has a notable influence on cardiovascular parameters, making it particularly beneficial for those with foot issues, particularly those with type 2 diabetes [26].…”

Diastolic Dysfunction of the Left Ventricle in a Prediabetic Population from Rural Central India

“…One of the independent markers for assessing the propensity of developing Cardiovascular disease in a diabetic population is Insulin Resistance. Normotensive patients, on the other hand, have been linked to left ventricular dysfunction, even when omitting those with coronary artery disease (CAD), which for all intents and purposes is quite significant [47][48][49][50][51].…”