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Effect of a hand massage with a warm hand bath on sleep and relaxation in elderly women with disturbance of sleep: A crossover trial
Author(s) -
Kudo Yukiko,
Sasaki Makiko
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
japan journal of nursing science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.363
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1742-7924
pISSN - 1742-7932
DOI - 10.1111/jjns.12327
Subject(s) - massage , sleep (system call) , actigraphy , physical therapy , sleep quality , crossover study , medicine , relaxation (psychology) , sleep disorder , evening , autonomic nervous system , heart rate variability , physical medicine and rehabilitation , sleep onset , psychology , heart rate , insomnia , psychiatry , blood pressure , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , astronomy , computer science , placebo , operating system
Abstract Aim The purpose of the present study was to clarify the effects of a hand massage with a warm hand bath on sleep, autonomic nervous activity, subjective sleep quality, and relaxation in elderly women with sleep disturbance. Methods A crossover design was used. Participants were assigned to two groups: a structured control first and intervention second condition, or an intervention first and control second condition. The sleep index as assessed by actigraphy, autonomic nervous activity, subjective sleep quality, and relaxation was then recorded. Results The mean age of the participants was 77.8 ± 6.8 years ( n = 28). According to the actigraph, the intervention day showed significantly improved sleep efficiency ( p = .048) and sleep onset latency ( p = .015). Regarding autonomic nervous activity, heart rate decreased significantly after the intervention ( p = .001), but no significant differences were seen in the other indexes. Subjective sleep quality, which was investigated using the middle‐age and aged version of the Oguri–Shirakawa–Azumi sleep questionnaire, was significantly higher after the intervention for four out of five factors. Subjective comfort and relaxation were significantly higher after the intervention for all items. Conclusions A hand massage with a warm hand bath in the evening improved sleep efficiency and sleep onset latency in elderly women with sleep disturbance. These results suggest that a hand bath and massage may improve subjective sleep quality and relaxation.