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The Effect of Hand Massage on Preoperative Anxiety Level and Hemodynamic Variables in Children: A Randomized
Fahri Aşkan1, Diğdem Lafcı Bakar2
1Faculty of Health Sciences, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey.
Insights
Hand massage effectively reduced preoperative anxiety, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate in children. Further research is recommended for broader applications of this intervention.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Anxiety Management
- Complementary Therapies
Background:
- Preoperative anxiety is common in children undergoing surgery.
- Anxiety can negatively impact patient outcomes and recovery.
- Non-pharmacological interventions are sought to alleviate distress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of hand massage on preoperative children's anxiety levels.
- To assess the effect of hand massage on hemodynamic variables in pediatric surgical patients.
- To determine the correlation between patient satisfaction and anxiety reduction post-massage.
Main Methods:
- Randomized controlled trial with 84 children aged 9-12 years.
- Inclusion of a study group receiving hand massage and a control group.
- Data collection using validated anxiety and satisfaction scales, and physiological monitoring.
Main Results:
- Significant reduction in state-trait anxiety in the hand massage group compared to the control group (P < .05).
- Statistically significant decreases in systolic blood pressure and heart rate following hand massage (P < .05).
- Negative correlation observed between satisfaction with hand massage and anxiety levels.
Conclusions:
- Hand massage is an effective intervention for reducing preoperative anxiety, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate in children.
- The intervention showed no significant effect on diastolic blood pressure, respiratory rate, or SpO2.
- Further extensive studies are recommended to explore the full potential of hand massage in pediatric care.
Purpose:
The study was conducted to determine the effect of hand massage applied to preoperative children on anxiety level and hemodynamic variables.
Design:
This research study is a randomized controlled trial with control and study groups, pre- and post-tests.
Methods:
This study was conducted between April and September 2017 with 84 children who were planned to receive an operation by applying general/local anesthesia in a province in the south of Turkey. The population of the research was composed of children between the ages 9 and 12 (study group = 42 and control group = 42). The data were collected through "Child and Parent Information Form," "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children," "Physical Symptoms Follow-up Form for Anxiety," and "Satisfaction Evaluation Scale."
Findings:
The state-trait anxiety mean after hand massage was found to be 25.78 ± 5.90 in the study group, and 31.80 ± 6.51 in the control group (P < .05). There was a statistically significant difference (P < .05) between the systolic blood pressures and heart rate averages of the children in the study group after hand massage. There was a negative correlation between the satisfaction hand massage and state-trait anxiety means of the study group children (P < .05).
Conclusions:
Hand massage was found to have a positive effect on reducing anxiety, systolic blood pressure and heart rate. No effect was found on diastolic blood pressure, respiratory rate and SpO2. We recommend that more extensive studies on hand massage are performed.
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