Effect of foot massage on physiological and psychological parameters among patients undergoing cardiac catheterization

Background: The rate of anxiety and pain in coronary artery patients before angiography is significantly higher. Aim: This study aimed to examine the effect of foot massage on physiological and psychological parameters among patients undergone cardiac catheterization. Design: A quasi-experimental research design was utilized. Setting: The current study was conducted in cardiac catheterization unit of Menoufia University Hospital. Subjects: 120 patients undergone cardiac catheterization assigned randomly into two equal groups, 60 patients for each group: Studied group (I) received foot massage therapy besides the routine hospital care while control group (II) received routine hospital care only .Three tools were used by the researcher for collecting the necessary data; Structured Interview Questionnaire, State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) and Visual Analogue pain scale (VAS). Results: There was a statistically significant difference related to pain level between study and control groups post-intervention with p-value =0.02, also there was a highly statistically significance difference related to anxiety level between study and control groups post-intervention with p-value ≤ 0.001 and a highly statistically significance difference related to systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as heart rate between study and control groups post-intervention. Conclusions: Foot massage has a positive effect in reducing anxiety and pain level as well as heart rate and blood pressure among patients undergone cardiac catheterization. Recommendations: Foot massage should be applied for patients before cardiac catheterization.