The Effect of Foot Bath on Physiological Parameters and Anxiety in Patients with Acute Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives:  Stroke is one of the most important neurological diseases in the world. Anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders associated with stroke that can disrupt the daily functioning of patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of foot baths on physiological parameters and anxiety in patients with stroke. Methods: The present study was a single-blind clinical trial that was performed on 60 patients with stroke admitted to Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj. The available method was used for sampling and the samples were randomly divided into two groups of test and control (30 people in each group). For the patients of the experimental group, between 2 and 5 p,m., a foot bath was performed for 15 minutes by a researcher colleague. For patients in both the experimental and control groups, blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, SpO2, and anxiety in the supine position were measured before and half an hour after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19 software by the independent and paired t-tests at a significance level of less than 0.05. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 60.98±9.53 years. After the intervention in the experimental group, the mean scores of systolic (159.73 vs. 149.87) and diastolic (90.87 vs. 89.03) blood pressures, heart rate (86.47 vs. 85.37), and anxiety (51.8 vs. 48.4) significantly reduced and the amount of SpO2 (96.2 vs. 97.67) significantly increased (P <0.05). Based on the independent t-test, no statistically significant difference was observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of physiological parameters and anxiety (P> 0.05). Discussion: Given the importance of the role of nurses in the rehabilitation of patients with stroke, complementary medicine methods, such as foot baths can be considered safe, inexpensive, and uncomplicated methods in patients with stroke to reduce anxiety and improve physiological parameters.