Evaluation of the effect of progressive relaxation exercises on fatigue and sleep quality in patients with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Fatigue and sleep problems are very commonly observed in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique (PMRT), used as one of the alternative methods in recent years, is reported to have benefits such as facilitating sleep and reducing sensitivity against fatigue. This research was conducted to investigate the effect of PMRT on fatigue and sleep quality in patients with MS.

SETTING AND DESIGN

This research was performed as a single-group pretest/post-test pretrial model. The research was conducted between March 2008 and December 2009 in the neurology polyclinic.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted with 32 patients who met the research criteria and agreed to participate in the study. A Personal Information Form was used as a data collection tool, Fatigue Severity Scale was used for measuring fatigue, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used for evaluating the sleep quality. PMRT was applied to the sample group once a day for 6 weeks.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Percentage, paired t-test, and Pearson's correlation analysis were used in the assessment of data.

RESULTS

It was determined that PMRT decreased patients' fatigue level and improved their sleep quality, and this difference was observed to be statistically significant. Moreover, patients' fatigue level increased as their sleep quality decreased.

CONCLUSIONS

This study supports the effect of PMRT on fatigue and sleep quality in patients with MS, and it is recommended that further studies be conducted on this subject in the future.