Effect of Foot Massage on Postpartum Comfort and Pain Level of the Mothers Who Had Vaginal Birth

July 29, 2019 updated by: Rabia Genç, Ege University

Effect of Foot Massage on Postpartum Comfort and Pain Level of the Mothers Who Had Vaginal Birth: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Background and Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effect of foot massage in the postpartum period on the need of receiving analgesic medication after assessing the postpartum comfort and pain status of the mothers who had vaginal delivery.Materials and methods: The study was completed with 66 mothers. As data collection tools, a questionnaire, Postpartum Comfort Scale (PCS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Drug Follow-up Card (DFC) were used.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background and purpose: This study aims to investigate the effect of foot massage in the postpartum period on the need of receiving analgesic medication after assessing the postpartum comfort and pain status of the mothers who had vaginal delivery.

Materials and methods: In order to keep the number of people in balance between the groups, "block randomization" method which is one of the fixed probability randomization types was preferred. The research was completed with 66 persons, 33 in the study group and 33 in the control group. As data collection tools, a questionnaire, Postpartum Comfort Scale (PCS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Drug Follow-up Card (DFC) were used.

Research inclusion criteria include (i) primipara mothers (who had their first birth), (ii) mothers who had normal vaginal delivery, (iii) those who had undergone episiotomy, (iv) who were volunteered to participate in the study, (v) who were on the first day of delivery (first 24 hours), (vi) who had no complications in the infant and the baby, (vii) age of whom ranged from 18 to 35, (viii) those who did not apply or receive any other complementary therapy, (ix) mothers who did not have any wound, infection or discomfort etc. on their feet, and those who can read and write.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

66

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Bornova
      • Izmir, Bornova, Turkey, 35100
        • Ege University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 35 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • primipara mothers (who had their first birth),
  • mothers who had normal vaginal delivery,
  • those who had undergone episiotomy,
  • who were volunteered to participate in the study,
  • who were on the first day of delivery (first 24 hours),
  • who had no complications in the infant and the baby,
  • age of whom ranged from 18 to 35,
  • those who did not apply or receive any other complementary therapy,
  • mothers who did not have any wound, infection or discomfort etc. on their feet,
  • mothers who can read and write

Exclusion Criteria:

  • mothers with any systemic disease
  • mothers who dislike foot massage during practice
  • early discharge mothers
  • mothers who applied another massage technique
  • mothers who take the analgesic drug unnecessarily

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Study Group

The first session of the foot massage was performed after mothers were taken to the postpartum service and after the effect of the first analgesia had elapsed (4-6 hours after birth).

The researcher prepared the mother for foot massage (foot care, proper position, etc.) and gave a total of 20-minute massage of foot massage, 10 minutes for each foot. VAS was repeated immediately after the first session (in the 20th minute) and after 30 minutes (in the 50th minute). The second session was performed on the second day, 20-24 hours after the first session (before the discharge). The VAS was analyzed before the second (last) session (0th minute), and the VAS was repeated immediately after the application (20th minute) and 30 minutes (50th minute), and the PCS was administered for the last time. Administered analgesics were recorded in the DFC and the administration made with package leaflet was supported.

Foot massage includes classical massage techniques such as effleurage, petrissage and friction techniques. Effleurage is the movement of stroking and lubricating superficial tissues. Therefore, it is performed at the beginning and ending of the massage. Petrissage is the slow and rhythmic movement to apply direct pressure to the soft tissue underlying the skin with the balls of the fingers and thumbs. Friction is the application of pressure through small circular movements only in small areas, using hand or fingers. While muscle tissue is compressed and relaxed, blood and lymph circulation increases. Thus, lactic acid in the muscle fibers is diminished and fatigue and stress are decreased.
No Intervention: Control Group
Routine procedures were applied and VAS was repeated at the same time periodical as the study group mothers (0th, 20th and 50th minute) and after 20-24 hours (before discharge), at the same time intervals (0th, 20th and 50th minute) pain status was measured by using VAS and PCS was administered for the last time and analgesics administered were recorded on the DFC.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Informed Consent Form
Time Frame: 5-10 minutes
The form consists of 31 questions about family, pregnancy, birth and newborn characteristics.This form was completed during the first meeting at the hospital.
5-10 minutes
Postpartum Comfort Scale (PCS)
Time Frame: 5-10 minutes
In accordance with the comfort theory developed by Katharine Kolcaba in 1994, the PCS developed by Karakaplan and Yıldız (2010) consists of 34 items.A 5-point Likert-type scoring system was used to evaluate each item.Expression and scoring were made for each item ranging from "totally agree" (5 points), and "strongly disagree" (1 points).In positive sentences, "I fully agree" indicates the best comfort (5 points) and in negative sentences low comfort (1 points).Accordingly, the lowest score to be taken from the scale is 34 and the highest score is 170.
5-10 minutes
Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
Time Frame: Less than 1 minute

It is a single-item continuous scale consisting of a horizontal or vertical line and is usually 10 centimeters (100 mm) in length. For example, the severity of pain a patient feels ranges from "no pain" with 0 points on a line to "severe pain" with 10 points.Scoring is achieved by measuring the point the patient has marked with a ruler.Pain relief points in VAS;

  • Absence of pain (0-4 mm),
  • Slight pain (5-44 mm),
  • Moderate pain (45-74 mm)
  • Severe pain (75-100 mm)
Less than 1 minute
Drug Follow-up Card (DFC)
Time Frame: About 1 minute
The researcher was prepared, this is a follow-up card in which the name and surname of the mothers, the name of the drug given to the mothers, the route of administration of the drug, date / time and dosage are indicated.
About 1 minute

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

July 3, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 24, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 29, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

July 30, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 30, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 29, 2019

Last Verified

July 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 0000-0002-6762-0496

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Postpartum Disorder

Clinical Trials on Foot massage

Subscribe