Foot massage yields multiple benefits in postmenopausal women
25 Sep 2022
Foot massage appears to do postmenopausal women good by helping them improve their sleep and reducing fatigue and anxiety levels, a study has found.
The study randomized 70 women who resided in a village located in Northern Turkey were randomized to groups that received a foot massage once daily for 7 days (n=35) or no intervention (n=35). All patients completed a personal information Form, the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) questionnaires.
Researchers used descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage distribution, median, and Q1-Q3), χ2 test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Wilcoxon test to analyse the effect of the experimental intervention.
At baseline, the experimental and control groups had similar FSS scores and sleep hours (p>0.05 for both). However, women in the control group had significantly lower pretest BAI scores (p<0.05).
Receiving foot massage every day for a week led to a significant improvement in all outcomes evaluated (p<0.001 for all). The median FSS scores were 2.3 (interquartile range, 1.6–3.4) in the experimental group and 5.5 (interquartile range, 4.6–6.2) in the control group. The respective median BAI scores were 26.0 (interquartile range, 23.0–29.0) and 36.0 (interquartile range, 31.0–43.0).
The daily sleep hours were 8.0 (interquartile range, 8.0–10.0) in the experimental group and 7.0 (interquartile range, 6.0–8.0) in the control group.