“A study to assess the effectiveness of aromatherapy massage on level of anxiety among elderly people residing in selected old age homes at Tirunelveli” was done by Mrs.T.Malathi as a partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Science in Nursing at Sri.K.Ramachandran Naidu College of nursing, Tirunelveli under the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai during the year of April 2014.
OBJECTIVES:
1. To assess the pre test level of anxiety among elderly people in experimental and control group.
2. To assess the post test level of anxiety among elderly people in experimental and control group.
3. To find out the effectiveness of aromatherapy massage on level of anxiety among elderly people in experimental group.
4. To compare the pre and post test level of anxiety among elderly people in experimental group.
5. To associate the post test level of anxiety among elderly people in experimental and control group with their selected demographic variables such as age, sex, marital status, education, occupation, monthly income, religion, number of children, mode of admission and duration of stay at old age home.
HYPOTHESES:
All hypotheses are tested at 0.05 level.
H1: The mean post test level of anxiety among elderly people in experimental group will be significantly lower than the mean post test level of anxiety in control group.
H2: The mean post test level of anxiety among elderly people in experimental group will be significantly lower than their mean pre test level of anxiety.
H3:There will be a significant association between the post test level of anxiety among elderly people in experimental and control group with their selected demographic variables such as age, sex, education, religion, occupation, monthly income, marital status, number of children, mode of admission and duration of stay at old age home.
The study was based on the Roy`s adaptation model. The Quantitative approach was used for this study. The study was conducted in UVSS New life old age home and Andhicholi old age home at Tirunelveli District. The design adopted for this study was quasi experimental pre and post test control group design to evaluate the effectiveness of aromatherapy massage on level of anxiety among the elderly people. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 30 samples for control group from Andhicholi old age home and the same method was used to select 30 samples for experimental group from UVSS New life old age home.
The data collection tool used for the study was Speil Berger`s State-trait anxiety inventory. The content validity of the tool was obtained from four nursing experts and one medical expert in the field of psychiatry. The reliability of the tool (r=0.9) was established by test retest method by using Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient formula. The tool was accepted as reliable by the clinical experts. Pilot study was conducted to find out the feasibility and done the data analysis.
Data collection was done by using the Speil Berger`s State-trait anxiety inventory and the data obtained were analyzed both in terms of descriptive and inferential statistics.
MAJOR FINDINGS:
1. In experimental group, the pre test mean value was 91.97 with the Standard deviation 17.11. In control group, the pre test mean value was 88.17 with the Standard deviation 16.33. The calculated ‘t’ value was 0.80.
2. In experimental group the post test mean value was 62.13 with Standard deviation of 16.19. In control group the post test mean value was 89.37 with Standard deviation of 17.03. The calculated ‘t’ test value was 6.34.
3. In experimental group, it showed the mean value of 91.97 with standard deviation 17.11 in pre test and a mean value of 62.13 with standard deviation 16.19 in post test. The mean difference was 29.84. The calculated ‘t’ test value was 6.93.
4. There was no significant association of the post test level of anxiety among elderly people in the experimental group with their selected demographic variables
5. There was no significant association of the post test level of anxiety among elderly people in control group with their selected demographic variables.
On the basis of the findings of the study it is recommended that:
The following studies can be undertaken to strengthen aromatherapy massage as a good remedy for the psychological and emotional problems of the elderly people.
1. A similar study can be conducted with larger samples.
2. A similar study can be conducted for the patients with other conditions like stress and depression.
3. A similar study can be conducted for school students to reduce their examination anxiety.
4. A similar study can be conducted among the wife’s of alcoholics to reduce anxiety and stress.
5. A comparative study can be conducted on aromatherapy massage Vs laughter therapy in level of anxiety among elderly people.
CONCLUSION:
From the result of the study, it was concluded that providing aromatherapy massage to the elderly people was effective on level of anxiety. Therefore the investigator felt that more importance should be given for aromatherapy massage to reduce the anxiety among the elderly people
