Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Adaptation to Old Age

The Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Depression and Adaptation to Old Age of Elderly Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Changes and limitations in the aging process affect adaptation to old age. It is important for women to adapt to the problems of old age, find a solution and cope. This study was aimed to determine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation exercises on the level of depression and adaptation to old women.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Elderly Women
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Progressive muscle relaxation exercise

Detailed Description

The aging process is considered as a result of the decline observed in basic cognitive functions such as attention, perception, memory, and causes problems in the communication of the elderly with the environment. For these problems, it affects the adaptation of the elderly in his environment and himself.

There are a limited number of studies in the literature to increase the adaptation of older individuals to old age. In the studies in the literature, it was stated that the rate of depression is higher in female individuals, and being male and having a high education level positively affect the adaptation of individuals to old age. In a national study, it was determined that as age increases, adaptation to old age decreases.

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), one of the nonpharmacological methods, involves the voluntary stretching and relaxation of large muscle groups (hand-starting, foot-end muscle groups) in the human body. It is known that PMR exercises are frequently used in nursing research because of the effects of reducing anxiety and fatigue and improving sleep quality, and reducing nausea-vomiting. However, no study was found on the effect of depression and adaptation to old age. Due to these positive effects of PMR determined in the literature, it is thought that elderly women can positively affect their levels of depression and adaptation to old age.

Objective: Evaluate the effects of progressive muscle relaxation on the depression and adaptation of elderly women to aging.

Methodology: This is randomized clinical test. The sample was made up of 49 elderly women who applying to the family health center (21 in the experimental group and 28 in control group). The progressive muscle relaxation was employed. In order to collect the data, we adopted the interview with form filling technique, using the introductory information form, Assessment Scale of Adaptation Difficulty for the Elderly (ASADE) and Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDS-S). Progressive muscle relaxation will be performed for a total of 8 weeks, 3 days a week, for 30 minutes.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Aksaray, Turkey, 68000
    • Aksaray University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 65 years to 100 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 65 years and above,
• Do not have a diagnosis of dementia and psychiatric disease by the doctor and have a mini-mental test score of 23 and above,
• Being independent in practicing daily living activities
• There is no problem with communication

Exclusion Criteria:

• Under the age of 65
• Being addicted in daily life activities
• Being diagnosed with dementia and psychiatric illness
• Mini-mental test score below 23

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental: Experimental group; Women aged 65 and over (the standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test cognitive levels score of 23 and above points). Progressive muscle relaxation exercises are applied to the intervention group as 30-minute sessions three times a week for eight weeks.	Other: Progressive muscle relaxation exercise; "Relaxation Exercises CD Audio Records" prepared by Turkish Psychological Association is used. Before starting the PMR exercises, the woman in the intervention group is provided to lie on a comfortable seat or bed, stretching the muscles of the face and all body for about 10 seconds starting from the hands to the foot in line with the sound recordings of the PKG exercises and then holding the deep breath while each muscle group is stretching, It is applied as a slow release of this breath during relaxation. In this way, the muscle groups in the hands, arms, neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen, hips, feet and fingers, the face and the whole body are tensioned and relaxed, and the woman is relaxed. During the eight-week period, the women are called by the researcher once a week and the exercises are reminded. Home visit There are 2 home visits at week 1 and at week 8. In case of need, repeated home visits are provided to ensure the continuity of the application.
No Intervention: No Intervention: Control group; Women aged 65 and over (the standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test cognitive levels score of 23 and above points).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Standardized Mini Mental Test (SMMT)	SMMT evaluates cognitive status. Women with a SMMT score 23 and above (min.0 - max. 30) were included in the study.	Pretest of study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-SF)	Evaluation of depressive symptoms of elderly individuals. In the evaluation of the scale, the answers to no, positive questions and yes to negative questions were matched by 1 point. A total score of 6 and above is considered significant for the diagnosis of depression.	2 month
Assessment Scale of Adaptation Difficulty for the Elderly	The difficulties in adaptation to old age of elderly individuals were evaluated using the Assessment Scale of Adaptation Difficulty for the Elderly (ASADE). The scores obtained from the items of the scale (24 ıtems) are collected and divided by the number of questions to obtain the total score of the scale. The level of adaptation to old age decreases as the score obtained from the scale by an individual increases. ASADE total score min. 0- max. 3.	2 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Aksaray University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 30, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 4, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 7, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): April 8, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 17, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 15, 2021
• Last Verified: February 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Elderly; Women; Relaxation exercises; Adaptation to old age
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2018/245

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No