복부 마사지와 경혈지압이 요양병원 입원 노인의 변비에 미치는 효과 = Effect of Abdominal Massage and Meridian Acupressure on Constipation in Long-term Care Residents

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Purpose: This study was to evaluate the effect of massage and meridian acupressure on constipation in elderly who was admitted in long-term care hospital. Methods: With one group time series design, 14 female elderly were recruited from one long-term care hospital in B city, South Korea. To evaluate the effect of massage and acupressure, the aspect of constipation was measured with frequency of bowel movement per week, hardness of stool, difficulty for bowel movement, and time to take defecation. Data were collected from October 24th to November 13th, 2011 and analyzed by descriptive statistics and repeated measures ANOVA using the PASW 18.0 statistics program. Results: Participants reported increased frequency of bowel movement per week from 1.86 at Day 1 to 2.50 at Day 7 and 2.92 at Day 14. The mean score of bowel movement difficulty was decreased by days from 2.20 at Day 1 to 1.20 at Day 7 and 0.93 at Day 14. As for the mean score of defecation time, it was also decreased by days from 1.83 at Day 1 to 1.61 at Day 7 and 1.14 at Day 14. Conclusion: Abdominal massage and meridian acupressure may be a cost-effective intervention to relieve constipation in the long-term care hospital. Therefore, nurses who carin for elderly in long-term care hospitals may apply appropriate massage and acupressure techniques to help patients prevent and relieve constipation.