1. BASMA SALAH ABD EL-MOTTELB - Assistant lecturer of Gerontological Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University, Egypt.
2. SOHIER BADRELDIN - Professor of Gerontological Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University, Egypt.
3. EBTESAM MO’AWAD EL-SAYED EBIED - Professor of Gerontological Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University, Egypt.
Background: Low back pain is a worldwide phenomenon among elderly especially who are residing in nursing homes for elderly. Reflexotherapy is adjunctive treatment that involves using gentle pressure to reflex points on feet. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of foot reflexotherapy on low back pain and level of functional disability among elderly in nursing homes. Design: A Quasi experimental/Non- equivalent control group (Irregular interrupted time series) design was utilized. Sample: A purposive sample of 60 elders. Setting: the study was conducted at eight governmental free of charge geriatric homes from each district of Cairo governorate, Egypt. Tools: 1- Elderly personal and medical history, 2- Pain assessment scales (The visual analogue pain scale (VAS), Wong Backer Face pain Rating scale (WBS) and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS)), 3- standardized Katz scale to assess elderly Functional status and standardized Arabic version Roland &Morris disability questionnaire. Results: The mean age of elderly was 73.2±7.7 years in the study and 69.9 ±6.06 in the control groups. All elderly in the current study have chronic low back pain. Moreover, a highly statistically significant difference was found between low back pain as measured by visual analogue scale, Wong backer scale and Numeric Rating scale mean scores and the total mean scores of disability among elderly in the study group between pre and post implementation of foot reflexotherapy (P= 0.000**). Conclusion: It can be concluded that, foot reflexotherapy was an effective method to decrease low back pain and minimize functional disability among elderly in nursing homes. Recommendation: Endorse reflex therapy as a routine nursing care of low back pain management among elderly in nursing homes.
Nursing home for elderly, low back pain, reflex therapy.