Background and Aim: Hypertension is the most common risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in elderly with high cost of treatment and care modalities. This study examines the effect of slow-stroke back massages on hypertension in elderly hypertensive clients.Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in Kahrizak charity foundation for elderly, in 2007. A quasi-experimental quantitative design conducted the study in which blood pressure of two groups of patients before and immediately after the intervention was compared. One hundred and two patients were randomly assigned to either massage or control group. The intervention consisted of slow-stroke back massage (SSBM) with five minutes duration for five consecutive days at time interval 3-7 the afternoon. Data were collected by demographic characteristics form, blood pressure recording form, calibrated mercury sphygmomanometer, and stethoscope.Results: The findings showed that there was no statistically significant difference between groups in average systolic and diastolic blood pressure before implementation of SSBM (P>0.05), but were observed statistically significant difference between two groups after intervention (P<0.05). Friedman test and repeated measures analysis of variance indicated there was statistically significant difference in blood pressure measures day by day. Conclusion: The authors suggest SSBM as an effective nursing intervention for reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure in elderly hypertensive patients; therefore, it can be used as a component of current and complementary treatment of hypertension.

Objective: Anxiety in the recent modern world, especially in elderly who have low power of adaptation, it can produce serious health problems for elder people. So this study was conducted in order to investigate and determine the effects of Slow Stroke Back Massage (SSBM) on anxiety in elderly clients. Materials & Methods: This study is a quasi-experimental research that was carried out in Kahrizak charity foundation for elderly, in 2007. For this study 102 elderly clients were allocated to two groups of experimental and control with randomize permuted block. Data were gathered by client demographic characteristics and Spielberger State anxiety inventory. The patients in experimental group have received five minutes of SSBM for five consecutive days during 3-7 the afternoon. State anxiety was measured in both groups before and after intervention. Data were analyzed by use of Chi-esquare, independent T test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Mann Whitney test and pair T test. Results: Results did not show significant difference between groups in average of state anxiety levels before execution of SSBM (P>0.05), but were observed significant difference between two groups after intervenion (p<0.05). Conclusion: According to the result, SSBM was effective to decrease state anxiety levels of elderly clients, therefore it can be used in current and complementary treatment of anxiety.  

Background and aims: Stroke is a disease that restricts the patient's independence in daily activities and it result in anxiety. Massage therapy is a useful action in nursing profession that one of them is slow stroke back massage (SSBM). The aim of this study was to determine the effects of SSBM massage on anxiety in patients with stroke.Methods: In this semi- experimental randomized clinical trial study, 34 patients were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria among 70 patients and then assigned into two groups of control and case.  Data collection tools was Spielberg state anxiety scale. The prevalence of anxiety was determined  and compared 24 hours before and after the last  massage therapy.Results: The mean of anxiety before intervention in case group was 61.40 ±8.25 and in control group was 61.80 ±3.85 and after the intervention in case group was 34.60 ±4.62 and in control group was 58.80 ±3.44, that showed a significant difference compared with before the intervention (p<0.001).Conclusion: Using SSBM massage by treatment and caregiver personnel can be an effective way in preventing or reducing anxiety in patients with stroke.

Background & Aim: Shoulder pain is a consequence of hemiplegia among patients with stroke. It makes patient to be dependent to others in their daily living activities. This study aimed to determine the effect of the slow stroke back massage (SSBM) on shoulder pain and hand function among patients with stroke.Methods & Materials: In this semi-experimental study, 34 patients were recruited among from 70 patients who referred to rehabilitation center in 2010, according to the inclusion criteria. Participants were randomly allocated into two groups of control and experiment. In the intervention group, the SSBM was implemented for 10 minutes through seven consecutive sessions. Shoulder pain and hand function were measured using the visual pain scale (Visual Analog Scale), and the researcher-made “affected hand function in ADL” instrument, respectively. The measurement was done before and 24 hours after the last session of the intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tests (independent t-test and paired t-test).Results: At baseline, the mean scores of shoulder pain were 8.4 in both experimental and control groups (P=0.999). After the intervention, the mean scores of shoulder pain were 1.13 and 8.40 in experimental and control groups, respectively (P<0.001). At baseline, the mean scores of hand function were 7.46 and 8.93 in the experimental and control groups, respectively (P=0.752). After the intervention, the mean scores of hand function reached 9.13 and 8.6 in the experimental and control groups, respectively (P=0.918).Conclusion: According to the results of the study, applying the SSBM as a treatment procedure and care plan by health care providers can be considered as an effective intervention to prevent or reduce shoulder pain and consequently to improve motor function of affected hand in patients with hemiplegia after stroke.

Background: Anxiety is the most prevalent psychological side effect of breast cancer and chemotherapy. This study aimed to determine the effect of slow-stroke back massage (SSBM) on the anxiety of old female patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 80 elderly women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy were enrolled by continuous sampling method. They were divided into two groups of experiment and control. The experiment group received three 15-min sessions of SSBM for 3 consecutive days. The data collection instrument was geriatric anxiety scale, used to measure the anxiety level of the subjects. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data with 95% of confidence level in SPSS 21.Results: Before the intervention, there was no significant difference between two groups in terms of anxiety and they were quite homogeneous (P=0.220). The average score of anxiety level reduced significantly from 40.97 before intervention to 30.47 after the intervention in the experiment group compared to the control group and this decrease was significant (P<0.001).Furthermore, no significant reduction was found in the average anxiety level of the control group before and after the intervention (P=0.457). There was also a significant difference between the average score of anxiety levels of two groups after the intervention (P<0.001).Conclusion: Because of the significant reduction of anxiety in the experiment group by using SSBM, this method can be recommended as an easy, accessible, and affordable method to apply on elderly women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Also, it is recommended that SSBM be used by nurses working with this group of women.

Background and Aim: Anxiety is among the commonest psychological problems experienced by patients receiving hemodialysis. One of the anxiety management strategies is complementary therapy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of slow-stroke back massage on anxiety among hemodialysis patients. Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out in a sample of 60 patients. The patients were allocated either to an experimental or a control group through simple random allocation. Patients in the experimental group received a slow-stroke back massage for 10 minutes thrice a week during 4 consecutive weeks, while patients in the control group received routine care services and had no information about the intervention provided to the patients in the experimental group. The level of anxiety was measured using Splielberger’ s State-trait anxiety inventory at 3 time points, namely, after hemodialysis and before the intervention, 15 days after the intervention, and 30 days after the intervention. Data were entered into SPSS software (v. 16. 0) and analyzed through running the repeated measures analysis of variance and the independent-sample t-test. Descriptive statistic measures were used for data description. Results: The repeated measures analysis of variance showed that slow-stroke back massage significantly alleviated state and trait anxiety at 15 and 30 days after the intervention (P < 0. 001). Thirty days after the intervention, the means of state anxiety in the experimental and control groups were 34. 7  7. 4 and 46. 2  7. 3 while the means of trait anxiety were 35. 2  8. 4 and 46. 2  7. 4, respectively. The means of the pretest-posttest mean difference of state anxiety on the 15th and 30th day after the intervention in the experimental group were 10. 6 8. 5 and 12. 8 7. 2 while the means of the trait anxiety pretest-posttest mean difference were 7. 7  8. 2 and 10. 7 3. 4, respectively. The means of posttest state and trait anxiety in the experimental group were significantly lower than the baseline values (P < 0. 001). Conclusions: Using massage therapy programs can positively affect the level of anxiety among patients receiving hemodialysis.

Introduction: Fatigue is the most common symptom of multiple sclerosis and the most common complaint in elderlies, which reduces the quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of slow stroke back massage on fatigue in elderly patients with multiple sclerosis living in Kahrizak Charity Foundation in 2014.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study, with one group before and after. The population consisted of 18 elderly male and female residents in Kahrizak Charity Foundation. Available sampling was performed based on the inclusion criteria, and for each individual, slow stroke back massage was applied for 20 minutes, in even days during a four-week period. Questionnaires were provided for demographic information and a questionnaire was used to assess fatigue. Fatigue was measured three times; before the intervention, at the end of the sixth session, and at the end of the twelfth session. Data Analysis was performed by SPSS version 16, and the statistical tests of Shapiro-Wilkes, repeated ANOVA and Friedman, Wilcoxon and Bonferroni, and U-Mann Whitney were used.Results: Of the study population, 55.6 % were female and %44.4 were male. The mean of age was 64.55. The mean scores of fatigue in pre- and post-tests were 50.2 and 44.3 respectively, and it was 40.5 at the end of the sixth session. The results of this study showed that fatigue had a significant difference before and after the intervention and slow stroke back massage was effective for reducing fatigue (P<0.001).Conclusions: Fatigue is highly prevalent in elderly patients with multiple sclerosis. The implementation of slow stroke back massage by caregivers and nurses, which is a tolerable and light intervention style for the elderlies, can be effective in reducing their fatigue.

Background & Aim: Fatigue and sleep disorders are the most common physical complaints in hemodialysis patients. It seems necessary to find effective, low-complication and cost-effective treatments to alleviate these problems. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of slow-stroke back massage on the level of fatigue and sleep quality in hemodialysis patients. Methods & Materials: In this randomized controlled trial, 82 hemodialysis patients hospitalized in Shahid Beheshti hospital in Abadan in 2018, were selected based on the inclusion criteria and were allocated to either the intervention or control group using permuted block randomization (4 blocks). The intervention group underwent massage therapy for 12 sessions. The numerical rating scale for measuring fatigue and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire were completed 14 times and three times respectively, by both groups. Data were analyzed through the SPSS software version 22 using descriptive statistical tests, independent t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: The results showed that before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in demographic variables between the intervention and control groups (P>0. 05). Significance of group and time interactions for fatigue score showed that the trend of changes in mean fatigue scores was different in the two groups and over the study time period (P<0. 001). Also, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in the total score of sleep quality and all sleep components except two components (mental quality of sleep and sleep disorders) (P<0. 05). Conclusion: This study showed that slow-stroke back massage improves fatigue and sleep quality in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, it is recommended as an inexpensive, effective and uncomplicated method in hemodialysis patients.