자가 발반사요법이 폐경 전 중년여성의 스트레스와 피로 및 혈액순환에 미치는 효과

Abstract

The Effect of Self-Foot Reflexology on Stress, Fatigue and Blood Circulation of Premenopausal Middle-Aged Women

Jang Soo Hyun Advisor: Prof. Kim Kye-Ha Ph. D. Department of Nursing, Graduate School of Chosun University

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of self-foot reflexology on stress, fatigue and blood circulation of premenopausal middle-aged women. The study was a nonequivalent control group pre-post test quasi-experiment design. The subjects in this study were premenopausal middle-aged women who were from over 40 years old to less than 60 years old. The subjects consisted of 59 middle aged women; 30 in the experiment group and 29 in the control group. Data was collected from May to August, 2008. The questionnaires about pre and post perceived stress and fatigue were used to identify the effect of self-foot reflexology. Blood chemistry was used to examine serum cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine. Digital infrared thermographic imaging was used to examine blood circulation. Self-foot reflexology was performed three times a week for 6 weeks for 40 minutes at each session. Massage tools, foot cream and guidelines about self-foot reflexology were provided to both groups. After collecting data, the researcher provided self-foot reflexology instruction to the control group. The data was analyzed using SPSS Win 12.0 version program. The homogeneity between two groups of general characteristics was analyzed by Chi-square test and independent t-test. The homogeneity of pre stress, fatigue and blood circulation was analyzed by independent t-test. The difference of pre-post stress, fatigue and blood circulation was analyzed by independent t-test. The findings of this study were as follows: There was no significant difference between two groups in general characteristics and dependent variable. The research hypothesis that the perceived stress of the experimental group might get less than the control group was accepted. The research hypothesis that the level of serum cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine of the experimental group might get lower than the control group was rejected. The research hypothesis that the experimental group might get less in fatigue than the control group was accepted. The research hypothesis that the blood circulation of the experimental group might improve more than that of the control group was accepted. According to the results of this study, self-foot reflexology was effective in reducing perceived stress and fatigue and helped blood circulation in premenopausal middle-aged women. Therefore, it's required to use self-foot reflexology as a successful nursing intervention in order to reduce stress and fatigue and to improve blood circulation. Based on the above-mentioned findings, there are some suggestions: The alternation should be required to conduct self-foot reflexology as independent nursing intervention. The program should be needed to conduct self-foot reflexology constantly for the subjects. Since cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine results become different according to the time of measurement, expanded study should be needed.

Key word: Self-foot reflexology, Middle-aged women, Stress, Fatigue, Blood circulation