The Effects on Sleep qualıty and fatıgue Level of Foot Bath

The physical symptoms frequently seen in COPD patients and adversely affecting routine life are dyspnoea, cough, phlegm, malnourishment/loss of appetite, nausea-vomiting, constipation, dehydration, sleeplessness, weakness/fatigue, delirium, anxiety, and depression.

It has been stated that the patients who experience severe symptoms cannot sleep, this condition impairs their sleep quality and they feel fatigue all day long. It has been observed in the literature that there are a decrease in sleep efficiency and total sleep duration, an increase in sleep latency, falling asleep late, and waking up, and a decrease in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep among COPD patients especially due to the cough and respiratory distress symptoms.

1.2 Literature review The qualitative aspects of sleep include sleep duration, sleep latency and the number of awakening during the night; on the other hand, its subjective aspects include elements such as sleep depth and relaxation. It is important to assess these elements in order to assess the sleep quality of patients.

Just like the sleep problems, fatigue is also an important problem seen in patients with COPD. In the studies, it has been determined that the patients with COPD have different levels of fatigue and their mental, physical and social functions may be affected from fatigue.

It is thought that the most common symptom in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is dyspnoea. However, it has been reported that fatigue is observed in the patients as frequent as respiratory distress. Fatigue is the main factor restricting the exercise tolerance of the individuals. A positive significant correlation has been determined between fatigue and dyspnoea. Fatigue affects the realisation of activities of daily living negatively and impairs quality of life as it reduces activity tolerance of patients.

Decreased effect of the pharmacological methods mostly preferred to solve sleep problems, the side effects of drugs, and the necessity of using drugs continuously have led people to use non-pharmacological methods. These methods include the complementary and integrative practices such as yoga, aromatherapy, massage, energy therapy, music therapy, reflexology, acupuncture, and acupressure. In recent years, many complementary and integrative methods have come into use as the number of studies on eliminating sleep problems and enhancing sleep quality has increased. One of these methods is hot foot bath. It is stated that hot foot bath provides a relaxing body temperature by regulating blood circulation, keeping feet in hot water relaxes the whole body, reduces fatigue and makes sleeping easier and, therefore, it is a therapeutic technique frequently used in nursing.

Important tasks of nurses include preparing the suitable environment for the patients to take a rest and providing to fulfil the basic physiological needs such as sleep etc. to enable the human body to continue its existence. For this reason, determining the factors preventing the patients from sleeping well in the hospital environment and eliminating these factors are of prime importance. Nurses who are the members of the healthcare team should solve the problems caused by sleeplessness and prevent the fatigue problem that may be caused by sleeplessness.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of the hot foot bath on sleep quality and fatigue level of the individuals with COPD.

The hypotheses of the study were as follows:

H1: The foot bath applied with hot water at 38-40°C for 10 minutes before going to sleep for 30 days is effective in enhancing sleep quality of the individuals staying in the hospital and receiving COPD treatment.

H2: The foot bath applied with hot water at 38-40°C for 10 minutes before going to sleep for 30 days is effective in decreasing fatigue level of the individuals staying in the hospital and receiving COPD treatment.