ABSTRACT
Objective
This study was conducted to determine the effects of foot massage performed on pregnant women with hyperemesis gravidarum on the severity of nausea and vomiting and pregnancy-related anxiety.
Material and method
This randomised controlled study was conducted between February and November 2020 with 104 pregnant women hospitalised in the pregnant women follow-up service ward of a public hospital in eastern Turkey with the diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum. Data were obtained from the pregnant women who were given a ‘Personal Information Form’ and before and after each application by using the Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis and Nausea (PUQE) Test and the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Scale-Revision 2 (PRAQ-R2).
Results
Before foot massage, the pre-test mean PUQE total, PRAQR-2 total, and PRAQR2 fear of childbirth and concerns about physical appearance dimension scores of the participants in the experimental and control groups were similar (p > 0.05), It was determined that the PRAQR2 fear of having a disabled child control group had significantly higher pre-test scores compared to the massage group (p < 0.05). After foot massage, the severity of nausea and vomiting was significantly lower in the participants in the experimental group compared to those in the control group (p < 0.001). Additionally, the mean PRAQR2 total and dimension scores of the participants in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
These findings support the use of the foot massage is an effective intervention in reducing the severity of nausea and vomiting and pregnancy-related anxiety.
Acknowledgments
We thank all pregnant women who participated in the research.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Author contributions
N.G: Conceptualisation, Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Visualisation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Y.A.D: Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.