Effect of Relaxation Techniques on Hypertensive Patients’ Physiological Outcomes
Alaa Abed Atiyah, Dergham Majeed Hameed
Relaxation techniques are considered one of the widely used techniques that are effective for a lot of medical conditions such as hypertension as well as psychological difficulties. It includes progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing. This study aims to determine the effect of relaxation techniques (Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Deep Breathing) on hypertensive patient’s physiological parameters (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate, and oxygen saturation). A Quasi-experimental design was used to guide this study, it was conducted by use of a pre-posttest approach during the period 26th of November, 2023 to 7th of April, 2024. A non-probability (purposive) sampling was performed during a selection of (100) patients who attended the Outpatient Clinic in Al-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital. These were divided into two equal groups: (50) patients for the control group and (50) patients for the intervention group. To reach the aims of the study the researcher used a socio-demographic and physiological parameter checklist sheet. The findings of the current study show significant decreases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, pulse rate, and oxygen saturation of participants were seen after relaxation techniques and there are highly statistically significant differences in post-test between the study and control group at all physiological parameter (at P 0.001). The researcher concludes that slow, deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation can both be chosen in an attempt to lower blood pressure and other physiological parameters in hypertensive patients. The study recommended the necessity to carry out further studies in various setting while taking into account a diverse sample in order to be representative to reduce hypertension and other physiological parameters in patients with essential hypertension.
Keywords: Effect, Relaxation techniques, Hypertension, Physiological outcomes
