A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Acupressure with that of Electro Therapy in Relieving pain among patients with Osteo Arthrits at selected Hospital, Kanyakumari District

A. Adlin Sujitha¹, C. Ajitha Retnam²

¹Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Sree Mookambika College of Nursing, Kulasekharam.

²Vice Principal Sree Mookambika College of Nursing, Kulasekharam.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: ajithar.justin@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

The experience of pain is complex, involving emotional and cognitive components. Pain is subjective and highly individualised. There are so many invasive and non invasive modalities to decrease pain intensity and has adverse effect. Study was conducted to identify the effect of two non pharmacological interventions in reduction of pain among clients with osteo arthritis. A quasi experimental design with two group consisting 60 patients with osteoarthritis were selected to determine the effectiveness acupressure and electrotherapy in relieving pain in selected hospitals in Kanyakumari district. For the clients in experimental group with osteoarthritis acupressure was given with the help of thumb and index finger on knee joint of the body to alleviate pain for 20 minutes and electrotherapy was applied in the knee joint for the control group for 20 minutes. Pre assessment was done on day 1 before the intervention for both the groups and post assessment was done on day 3 and day 5 using simple descriptive pain intensity scale prepared by the researcher. The result showed that clients in Experimental group receiving acupressure had significant reduction of pain than clients in control group receiving electrotherapy.

KEYWORDS: Acupressure, Electrotherapy, Pain, Osteoarthritis.

INTRODUCTION:

Pain is a feeling of distress and discomfort of varying intensity. It is caused by stimulation of specialised nerve endings. Arthritis is often painful and debilitation or even crippling. It is recognisable by persistent pain in joints, especially aggravated by any movement or activity such as walking, getting up from a chair, writing, typing, holding an object, throwing a ball, turning a key etc.

Osteo arthritis is charecterized by the degeneration of the cartilage of the joint. The joints mostly affected are Knees and hips. It is the most common health problem of middle aged and older people. It is estimated that 1 in 6 people are currently affected with any one form of arthritis and they also suggest that the incidence rate is suddenly and steeply increasing.

Pain is identified as the distressing symptom experienced by the client with arthritis. health care workers are constantly working on pain relieving strategies to overcome the dreadful effect of pain and improve wellbeing. The use of electrical stimulation by a physical therapist is effective in treating various joint disorder. Acupressure helps in arthritis to relieve symptoms like pain and inflammation.

Nurses work in almost in all clinical setting where they give care to many clients suffering from various types of pain. Indeed nurses as professionals spend more time with patients who are suffering from pain than any other health care provider.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A study to assess the effectiveness of acupressure with that of electrotherapy in relieving pain of osteoarthritis patients in selected hospitals in Kanyakumari District.

OBJECTIVES:

· To assess the level of pain among client with osteo arthritis of both experimental and control group.

· To determine the effectiveness of acupressure with that of electrotherapy in relieving pain of osteoarthritis patients.

· To find out the association between pain andthe selected demographic variables like age, sex, occupation, body weight.

HYPOTHESIS:

There is a significant reduction on pain among patients in acupressure group than in electrotherapy group.

METHODOLOGY:

The research design adopted was quasi experimental design with two group pre test and post test design. The study was conducted among 60 patients with osteoarthritis admitted in PS medical trust Thalakulam, Kanyakumari District.Convenience sampling technique was adopted for selecting samples. For the samples in acupressure group pre assessment was done on day 1 with simple descriptive pain intensity scale. Acupressure was given with the help of thumb and index finger on knee point of the body to alleviate the pain for 20 minutes and continued for 5 days. Post assessment was done on day 3 and day 5 with simple descriptive pain intensity scale. For the samples allotted in electrotherapy group pre assessment was done on day 1 with the help of simple descriptive pain intensity scale then electrotherapy was given with 250 voltage current for 20 minutes on painful knee through short wave diathermy and Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. The Post assessment was done on day 3 and day5 with the help of simple descriptive pain intensity scale. The reliability of the tool was measured by using inter rater reliability method in which value of r is 0.6.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Majority of the patients with osteoarthritis was found to be in the age group of 53-65 yrs. Mean pain assessment score in acupressure group in day 1 (22.6), day 3 (11.9) and day 5 (7.3).

Mean pain assessment score in electrotherapy group in day1 (22.4), day3 (19.9) and day 5 (19.6).

Comparison between pre intervention pain assessment on day 1 and post intervention pain assessment on day 5showed significant difference among patients in acupressure group t(29)=3.8>2.045 p 0.05 level.

Comparison between pre therapy pain assessment on day 1 and post therapy pain assessment on day 5 showed no significant reduction among patients in electrotherapy group t(29)=1.1,2.045 p 0.05 level.

Comparison between acupressure group and electrotherapy group on day 1 and day 5 showed significant difference at 0.05 level of significance t(59)=29.7>4.09 p 0.05 level.

The mean pain assessment score in acupressure group is less than the mean pain assessment score in electro therapy group which reveals that acupressure has faster effect on reducing pain than electrotherapy. The result agrees with the findings reported by Robert Griffith (2006) in the British Medical Journal showing that acupressure is superior to electrotherapy in relieving low back pain.

Effectiveness of Acupressure with that of Elecro therapy in reducing pain among clients with osteoarthritis N=60

Group

Mean

Mean difference

Difference

SE mean

Difference

‘t’ value

Experimental Group

D 1 22.6

D5 7.3

15.3

2.5

1.7

29.7

Control Group

D1 22.4

D5 19.6

2.8

0.4

t(58)=29.7>4.09 P0.05.

Mean pain assessment scores of acupressure group and electrotherapy group on day1, day 3, Day 5

CONCLUSION:

The study explains in silence the beneficial effect of Acupressure in reducing knee joint pain among clients with osteoarthritis, this study also tells the role of nurses in using complementary therapy in reducing pain.

REFERENCES:

1. Anton Jaya Sooriya. Clinical Acupuncture; B Jain Publishers 7^th edition. 1998: 693-95.

2. Brian. Treatment options for patient with Osteo arthritis of knee. British Journal of Nursing. 2005; 14: 985-87.

3. Ernst. E. Acupuncture as a symptomatic treatment of Osteoarthritis, Department of complementary medicine, University of Eeter, U.K. 1997; 6: 444-447.

4. Orchard. J. Statistics in clinical practice, British Journal of sports medicine, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of sports and Exercise Medicine. 2003; 6(37): 562.

5. Robert Griffith. Alternative Medicine British Medical Journal. 2006; 14(8): 976-980.

Received on 06.12.2023 Modified on 08.01.2024

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2024; 12(1):15-16.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2024.00004