Effect of foot reflexology on chest pain and anxiety in patients with acute myocardial infarction: A double blind randomized clinical trial

Background and aim: Acute myocardial infarction is a condition characterized by the main symptom of chest pain in patients. Chest pain is the main complain in more than ۷۵% of patients. Also, ۵۰–۷۰% of these patient’s experience anxiety. Reflexology may be effective in patients with acute myocardial infarction. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of foot reflexology on chest pain and anxiety in patients with acute myocardial infarction.Materials and method: This study was a double blind randomized clinical trial. Stratified random sampling was carried out on ۹۰ patients with acute myocardial infarction in the three groups of treatment, placebo and control. Foot reflexology was done for three consecutive days, each time for ۲۰ min. Chest pain and anxiety were evaluated with Visual Analogue Scale before, immediately and ۲۰ min later. Data were analyzed by SPSS ۲۴.۰ using Chi-Square, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, One-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Repeated Measure ANOVA and Bonferroni tests. The significance level was considered to be ۰.۰۵.Results: The three groups were homogeneous in terms of demographic variables. ۲۰ min after the intervention, severity of chest pain in treatment group was significantly lower than control group (p < ۰.۰۰۱) and placebo group (p = ۰.۰۰۲). Severity of anxiety between groups and at different times was not significant.Conclusion: Foot reflexology was effective in attenuating chest pain, had the most effect in ۲۰ min after intervention, and can be used to relieve chest pain in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials: IRCT۲۰۱۵۰۱۱۶۶۳۱۸N۴

کلیدواژه ها:

Acute myocardial infarction ، Anxiety ، Chest pain ، Reflexology