the effect of massage therapy on the quality of sleep in women with multiple sclerosis being admitted by isfahan m.s. association

the effect of massage therapy on the quality of sleep in women with multiple sclerosis being admitted by isfahan m.s. association bahraini s , naji sa* , mannani r , bekhradi r received: 25 april, 2010 accepted: 27 july, 2010 abstract background & aims: low quality of sleep is one of the most common signs in multiple sclerosis that can result in reducing the quality of life, increasing mortality, and neuropsychological problems. the aim of this study was to assess the effects of massage therapy on the quality of sleep in women with multiple sclerosis in isfahan. materials & methods: the present study was a single group, pre and post test study which was conducted on 36 women with multiple sclerosis. purposive sampling method was used for this study. for each sample, a twenty minute effleurage massage was done three times a week for four consecutive weeks. result: the mean score of sleep quality index before the intervention was 11.63 and after that was converted to 7.63. the statistical analysis indicated that there was a significant difference in the quality of sleep before and after the intervention (p<0.0001). conclusion: it is recommended to applying massage therapy for multiple sclerosis patients as it can lead to improvement in sleep quality. keywords: multiple sclerosis, massage therapy, sleep, complementary and alternative medicine address: islamic azad university of khorasgan, isfahan, iran tel :( +98)3115354058 e-mail: [email protected]