Nasibeh Hasanshahi, MSc, RN, is Student, Geriatric Care Nursing Master of Science, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Tayebeh Mirzaei, PhD, MSc, RN, is Associate Professor, Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Geriatric Care Research Center, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Gastroenterol Nurs. 2022;45(3):159-166. doi: 10.1097/SGA.0000000000000660. Epub 2022 May 6.
Constipation is a common complaint and challenge in the elderly. Methods such as acupressure and abdominal massage can be considered for the treatment of constipation in the elderly. This study aimed to compare the effect of abdominal massage and acupressure on constipation in healthy elderly women. In this study, 60 elderly women with constipation participated in two groups. The first group underwent acupressure for 3 minutes every day for 5 days, and the other group underwent classical abdominal massage for 15-20 minutes every day for 5 days. The two groups were followed for a month. Data collection tools included a demographic characteristics questionnaire, Rome III criteria, and constipation assessment scale. The data were analyzed by SPSS18 software. Following the intervention, there was no significant difference between the two groups (p > .05). But in the first month, the mean scores of constipation in the abdominal massage and acupressure groups were 6.30 ± 3.47 and 9.03 ± 3.84, respectively, which showed a significant difference between the two groups for that time period (p = .005). Although there was no significant difference between the two methods during the intervention, the severity of constipation did decrease in each group. Also, in the first month after individual intervention, a significant difference was observed between the two groups. We conclude that abdominal massage can be suggested as an applicable and simple method in the treatment of constipation for elderly women.
便秘是老年人常见的困扰和挑战。可以考虑采用穴位按压和腹部按摩等方法来治疗老年人的便秘。本研究旨在比较腹部按摩和穴位按压对健康老年女性便秘的影响。在这项研究中，60 名患有便秘的老年女性被分为两组。第一组每天接受 3 分钟的穴位按压，共 5 天；另一组每天接受 15-20 分钟的经典腹部按摩，共 5 天。两组均随访一个月。数据收集工具包括人口统计学特征问卷、罗马 III 标准和便秘评估量表。使用 SPSS18 软件对数据进行分析。干预后，两组之间没有显著差异（p>.05）。但在第一个月，腹部按摩和穴位按压组的便秘平均得分分别为 6.30±3.47 和 9.03±3.84，两组在该时间段存在显著差异（p=0.005）。尽管在干预期间两种方法之间没有显著差异，但每组的便秘严重程度都有所减轻。此外，在个人干预后的第一个月，两组之间观察到显著差异。我们得出结论，腹部按摩可以作为治疗老年女性便秘的一种适用且简单的方法。
