The Effect of Laughter Therapy on Arthralgia, Ankylosis, Depression, and Sleep of Elderly Housebound Women with Osteoarthritis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of laughter therapy on arthralgia, ankylosis, depression and sleep of elderly housebound women suffering from osteoarthritis. METHODS: The study used a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 48 elderly women: 23 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. The experimental group received laughter therapy twice a week for 4 weeks. The results were analyzed by using chi2-test, ANCOVA, and t-test with the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. RESULTS: The results showed that laughter therapy had a significant statistical effective in reducing arthralgia, ankylosis, and depression and improving the quality of sleep as evidenced by the differences between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that laughter therapy is an effective nursing intervention reducing arthralgia, ankylosis, and depression and improving the quality of sleep in these women. Therefore, it is necessary to develop laughter therapy as an independent nursing intervention for elderly women with osteoarthritis who are housebound.

The Effects of Foot Reflexology on Arthralgia, Ankylosis, Depression, and Sleep in Community-dwelling Elderly Women with Osteoarthritis

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the effects of foot reflexology on arthralgia, ankylosis, depression and sleep in community-dwelling elderly women with osteoarthritis. METHODS: The research adopted a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Participants were 47 elderly women: 22 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. The experimental group received foot reflexology twice a week for 4 weeks. The results were analyzed using chi2-test, t-test, and ANCOVA with the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. RESULTS: The results showed that foot reflexology was statistically significantly effective in reducing arthralgia, ankylosis, and depression and in improving the quality of sleep as evidenced by differences between two groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that foot reflexology is an effective nursing intervention in reducing arthralgia, ankylosis, and depression, and improving the quality of sleep. Therefore, it is necessary to develop foot reflexology as an independent nursing intervention for elderly women with osteoarthritis in community.

The Effects of Foot Reflexology on Sleep, Depression and Skin Temperature of the Female Elderly at Home

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of foot reflexology on sleep, depression and skin temperature of the female elderly at home. METHODS: This research used the non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 45 elders residing at home: 23 in the experimental group and 22 in the control group. The experimental group received 30-minute foot reflexology 8 times for 2 weeks. The results were analyzed using chi2 test, t-test with the SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. RESULTS: The results showed that foot reflexology was significantly effective in improving the quality of sleep, reducing depression, and raising the temperature of both feet. However, the temperature of both palms was not statistically significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that foot reflexology is an effective nursing intervention in improving the quality of sleep, reducing depression, and raising the temperature of both feet. Therefore, it is recommended to use foot reflexology as a complementary nursing intervention for elderly women at home in community.

The Effects of Foot Reflexology on Sleep, Depression and Skin Temperature of the Female Elderly at Home

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of foot reflexology on sleep, depression and skin temperature of the female elderly at home. METHODS: This research used the non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 45 elders residing at home: 23 in the experimental group and 22 in the control group. The experimental group received 30-minute foot reflexology 8 times for 2 weeks. The results were analyzed using chi2 test, t-test with the SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. RESULTS: The results showed that foot reflexology was significantly effective in improving the quality of sleep, reducing depression, and raising the temperature of both feet. However, the temperature of both palms was not statistically significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that foot reflexology is an effective nursing intervention in improving the quality of sleep, reducing depression, and raising the temperature of both feet. Therefore, it is recommended to use foot reflexology as a complementary nursing intervention for elderly women at home in community.