El ve Ayağa Uygulanan Aromaterapi Masajının Kemoterapi İlişkili Periferal Nöropatik Ağrı ve Yorgunluk Üzerine Etkisi

Abstract

Izgu, N., The Effect of Aromatherapy Hand and Foot Massage on Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathic Pain and Fatigue, Hacettepe University Institute of Health Sciences Medical Nursing Department Doctor of Philosophy Thesis, Ankara, 2017. This randomized controlled study aimed to examine the effect of aromatherapy hand and foot massage on chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathic pain and fatigue in cancer patients receiving oxaliplatin based chemotherapy regimens. The study was carried out in the outpatient chemotherapy units of Hacettepe University Oncology Hospital and Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital between June 2015 and August 2016. The sample of the study consisted of totally 40 patients including 20 intervention and 20 control who were selected with stratified randomization. Between 1st and 6th weeks of the study, aromatherapy massage was applied to both hands and feet of patients in intervention group, 3 times in a week, during home visits and each intervention patient received totally 18 aromatherapy massage sessions. Between 7th and 8th weeks, no intervention was applied. As for control group patients, no application was performed except for routine care. Neuropathic pain was detected with “Douleur Neuropathique 4 Questions (DN4)”, pain severity with Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and fatigue severity with Piper Fatigue Scale. The research data was collected on the first day of the study, at 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th weeks of the study. The median score of DN4 was statistically lower in intervention group than control group at 4th and 6th weeks (p<0.05). Besides, the rate of peripheral neuropathic pain was significantly higher in control group at 6th week compared to intervention group. The median score of VAS in intervention group was significantly lower than control group at 2nd, 4th and 6th weeks (p<0.05). In terms of fatigue severity, intervention and control group were not significantly different throughout the study (p>0.05). In this study, aromatherapy massage applied to both hands and feet during 6 weeks was found to be effective in preventing neuropathic pain and relieving pain severity. The application was not effective in decreasing fatigue severity. According to these results, aromatherapy massage can be recommended in cancer patients receiving oxaliplatin based chemotherapy regimens to prevent neuropathic pain and relieve pain severity.