The effect of foot reflexology on the insomnia levels of women during postpartum period: A randomized controlled study

OBJECTIVE: The effect of foot reflexology on the insomnia levels of women during postpartum period is examined. METHOD: The research was a randomized control study with single-blind, using pre-test-post test method. The sample was consisted of a total of 54 women with vaginal birth in the early postpartum period including 24 interventions and 30 controls. The data were collected using the Personal Information Form, Postpartum Sleep Quality Scale (PSQS). For intervention group, end of birth 14th-20th. 4 times a day, a total of 30 min foot reflexology was applied. The control group received routine follow-up and care. Data were evaluated using number, percentage, t test, Mann Whitney U test and Intention to Treat analysis. RESULTS: At the beginning of the study, it was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between groups, in the posttest, sleep duration increases in the intervention group when there is no change in the control group women (p=0.004). The nighttime sleep duration of the intervention group increased statistically significantly by 25 minutes (p=0.03), but there was no difference between the two groups at the end of the experiment (p=0.38). It was observed that the women in the intervention group with foot reflexology showed a statistically significant decrease of 9.39 points in the mean of the pretest (44.73 ± 6.89) and posttest (35.34 ± 5.48) and that the postpartum sleep quality of the women were increased (p=0.000). There was no statistically significant difference between the pre and post test scores in the sleep quality of the women in the control group (p=0.057). In the intervention and control groups, there was no significant difference between the pretest scores (p=0.11) in the PSQS scores and the sleep quality of the intervention group was significantly higher then control group (p=0.001) in the posttests. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that foot reflexology can improve sleep duration and sleep quality in postpartum women. It is suggested that healthcare professionals who undertake the treatment and care of women in postpartum period should develop and apply themselves in the use of foot reflexology. The effects of foot reflexology on sleep quality can be tested at begining and late postnatal period and after cesarean section. Keywords: Foot reflexology, women in postpartum period, sleep quality