Effects of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Nausea, Vomiting, Fatigue, Anxiety, and Depression in Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy / 종양간호학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of progressive muscle relaxation on nausea, vomiting, fatigue, anxiety, and depression in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: This study was a quasi-experimental research using non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Data were collected from outpatients in a university hospital from April to August, 2009. There were 74 participants, 39 in the experimental group and 35 in the control group. The experimental group was given daily the progressive muscle relaxation for 20 min during three weeks. The structured questionnaire was used to measure nausea, vomiting, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 12.0 program, chi-square-test, Fisher's exact test, t-test and ANCOVA were conducted to examine the homogeneity and the research hypotheses. RESULTS: There were statistically significant decreases in anxiety and depression in the experimental group compared to the control group. However, there were no significant differences in nausea, vomiting, and fatigue between the groups. CONCLUSION: In this study, progressive muscle relaxation was effective in alleviating anxiety and depression of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Therefore, progressive muscle relaxation can be usefully utilized as a nursing intervention that enhances psychological function of cancer patients.