Effects of Extremity Massage on Preoperative Anxiety: A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial on Phacoemulsification Candidates

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to compare the effects of foot and hand massage on preoperative anxiety.

Design: Three-arm randomized, nonblinded, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial.

Methods: This study was conducted on 90 female candidates waiting for phacoemulsification cataract surgery in Arak Amirkabir Hospital, Iran. Patients were consecutively selected and randomly divided into three groups of hand (n = 30), foot (n = 30), and placebo (n = 30), using a random number generator software program. In each group, massage was performed 5 minutes for each hand or foot in the surgical waiting room about 10 minutes before surgery. Anxiety was measured before and after the intervention by visual analog scale and also assessing physiological indicators (heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures).

Findings: All the 90 patients completed the study and were included in the final analysis. Both hand and foot massage resulted in a significant decrease compared with placebo massage in anxiety and heart rate. However, no significant difference was found between hand and foot massage in any of the measured parameters. In the foot group and hand group, a significant reduction was observed in heart rate and anxiety after the intervention, whereas the anxiety increased significantly in the placebo group after the intervention. Moreover, systolic blood pressure in the foot group and the respiratory rate in the hand group significantly decreased after the intervention.

Conclusions: Application of hand or foot massage seems to be effective in managing anxiety in patients waiting for phacoemulsification cataract surgery.

Keywords: anxiety; cataract extraction; massage; preoperative care; vital signs.