Evaluating the Effect of Slow-Stroke Back Massage on the Anxiety of Candidates for Cataract Surgery

BACKGROUND: The patients under cataract surgery often experience anxiety not only during the surgery, but also prior to the surgery. PURPOSE: We sought to determine the effects of slow-stroke back massage on anxiety in patients undergoing cataract surgery. SETTING: The study was conducted in the Amiral-momenin Hospital of Zabol city, south-east of Iran. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 60 candidates of cataract surgery participated in the study. RESEARCH DESIGN: The participants were randomly allocated to either control or intervention groups. The intervention group received slow-stroke back massages, while patients in control group received routine interventions. INTERVENTION: The slow-stroke back massage was performed on the patients assigned to the intervention group. The intervention was performed in the morning of the surgery day at 30 minutes before the surgery. The researcher performed each massage session in a sitting position. The duration of each massage session was 15 minutes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Anxiety was assessed in the both groups in the morning of the surgery, before and immediately after the intervention. Independent samples Student’s t test, paired samples Student’s t test, and chi-squared test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Anxiety was not significantly different between the two groups before and after the massage (p = .816). On the other hand, paired samples Student’s t test showed a significant difference comparing the anxiety scores before (49.7±5.43) and after (45.16±3.89) the massage in the intervention group (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, slow-stroke back massage, which is a low-cost and safe method, reduced anxiety in patients who were candidates for cataract surgery.