Effect of progressive muscle relaxation therapy in reducing anxiety among the elderly residing in selected old age homes at Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala

A study to assess the effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy in reducing anxiety among the elderly residing in selected old age homes at Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing during the year 2011, Christian College of Nursing, Neyyoor, which is affiliated to Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai . The following objectives were set for the study 1) To assess the degree of anxiety among elderly in experimental and control group before Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy. 2) To assess the degree of anxiety among elderly in experimental group and control group after administration of Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy in the experimental group. 3) To compare the degree of anxiety among elderly in experimental and control group after administration of Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy in the experimental group. 4) To associate the degree of anxiety among elderly before Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy with the selected demographic variables such as age, sex, education, previous occupation, marital status, dietary pattern, hobby, religion and duration of stay in the old age home. The study was based on Callista Roy’s Adaptation model (1984). The design adopted for this study to assess anxiety among the elderly in the old age home was pretest post test control group design. The investigator framed the tools. The feasibility of the study and the refinement of tools were assessed through a pilot study. The tool taken for the study was questionnaire and Zung’s Self Rating Anxiety Scale. The data collection for the main study was done from May 15th to June 26th, 2010. The study was conducted in old age homes at Valiavilai and Mukkolai in Thiruvananthapuram. Convenience sampling technique was adopted for selection of subjects. The target population selected for the study was all the elderly in the old age homes who met the inclusion criteria. Data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Major findings of the study are summarized as follows • Regarding the age of the elderly, 9(30.3%) were in the age group of 55-59, 16(53.3%) were in the age group of 60-65,and 5 (16.7%) were in the age group of 65-69. • With respect to sex, 80% of the elderly were males compared to females which are 20%. • About 33.3% of elderly were having primary school education. • With respect to previous occupation 50% elderly were Government employees and only 6.7% were unemployed. • Regarding marital status, 2(6.7%) elderly were separated, 3(10%) were unmarried, 5 (16.7%) were widow and 18(60%) were widower. • Most of the elderly, 27(90%) were non-vegetarian. • With respect to hobby only 25(83.3%) elderly were having hobbies. • Majority, 29(96.7%) elderly were Hindus regarding the religion. • Regarding the duration of the stay in the old age homes, 23(76.7%) elderly were having more than one year of stay. • The anxiety among the elderly in the experimental group before Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy was mild to moderate 40% (12) and the anxiety among elderly in the control group was mild to moderate 36.7% (11) and severe 63.3% (19). • The assessment of anxiety between the experimental and control group after Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy revealed that 4 (13.3%) elderly were having normal anxiety level, 25(83.4%) were having mild to moderate level of anxiety and 1(3.3%) were having severe degree of anxiety. But at the same time the control group elderly had anxiety level as mild to moderate 40% and as severe degree of anxiety 60%. The level of anxiety was considerably reduced among the experimental group than the control group. • The mean anxiety of experimental group before Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy was 59.8 ± 7 and the same after Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy was 51.2 ± 5.4.The anxiety that was reduced from before Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy to after therapy was statistically very highly significant (t=8.734, d.f=29 and P< 0.001). But in the control group the anxiety was 60.2± 6.4 and 60.1 ± 6 in pre test and post test respectively. The reduction of anxiety was not statistically significant (P > 0.05)