The effect of progressive relaxation exercises on restless legs syndrome severity and sleep quality in pregnant women

Planned as an experimental randomized controlled in this study, we aimed to evaluate determine the effects of progressive relaxation exercises on the severity of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and sleep quality. The research data were collected between April 10, 2016 and April 13, 2017 in Ege University Medical Faculty Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Policlinic. The universe of this study consists of all of the pregnant women who came to the polyclinic, the sample was diagnosed with RLS, and those who acceepted to participate in the study, which met the criteria for inclusion in the study. A total of 3 interviews were conducted with the group of progressive relaxation exercises (PRE) (n: 23) and relaxation fund music (RFM) practice group (n: 22) in the context of fund-raising. Each pregnancy in the PRE practice group was trained on how to perform relaxation exercises, and then the PRE CD was asked to perform the exercises once a day for one month. As a GFM practice group, it is desirable to listen to music once a day for a month, which ensures that each gender is relaxed. The data of the study were collected using the "Pregnancy Presentation Form" to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of the pregnant woman, the "International Restless Leg Syndrome Scale (IRLSS)" to determine the severity of RLS and the "Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PUKI)" to determine sleep quality. Mann Whitney-U test, Friedman test and Chi-square test were used in the analysis of the data. The first encounter with the pregnant women included in the survey; the pregnancies are experiencing 'severe' symptoms of restless leg syndrome (29.6 ± 5.00). For a month; It was determined that the complaints of RLS were alleviated as a result of application of PRE. After RFM administration, it was determined that despite the decrease in symptoms of RLS, it continued to be in the range of scores which can be considered as severe (21.7 ± 6.11) according to IRLSS. PRE administration was found to be more effective than RFM administration in reducing the severity of RLS symptoms in pregnancy. All participating pregnancy women have poor sleep quality (PUKI global score> 5). The mean PUKI total score with pregnancy PRE administration decreased from 13.4 ± 3.32 to 8.7 ± 2.89 after four weeks. In the RFM practice group, the total score of the PUKI was 14.1 ± 3.04 at the first visit, decreased to 11.0 ± 3.86 points after the application. There was no statistically significant difference between PRE and RFM applications in terms of the effects on PUKI total score (p> 0.05). As a result; progressive relaxation exercises have been found to be effective in alleviating the severity of restless leg syndrome symptoms in pregnant women and increasing the sleep quality of the pregnant women. Keywords: Restless legs syndrome, progressive relaxation exercises, sleep quality.