Effectiveness of progressive relaxation and emotional regulation on quality of life of heart patients

Background: One of the major problems in the world are Cardiovascular diseases and it is the reason of 30% of the deaths. Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of progressive relaxation and emotional regulation on quality of life of elderly heart patients. Methods: This semi-experimental research was conducted with pre-posttest design with an experimental and control group in 2016-17. The population consisted of all elderly heart patients living in Dashti city who have been admitted to the hospital. Forty-five elderly heart patients were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups (n=15). The control group did not receive any intervention. An interventional programs (progressive muscle relaxation and emotional regulation) were performed in eight sessions for 40 minutes for experimental groups. To collect data, the World Health Organization Quality-of-Life scale (WHOQOL-BREF) were used. Data were analyzed and represented as mean, standard deviation, and ANCOVA. Findings: The quality of life in two experimental groups (progressive muscle relaxation and emotional regulation) compared to the control group, at posttest were increased (P<0.05). The average scores of quality of life was significantly increased in the progressive muscle relaxation group rather than emotion regulation training group in post-test stages (P<0.01). Conclusion: The results showed that progressive muscle relaxation and emotional regulation can be effective to treat and work with the elderly heart patients.