A comparative study to evaluate the effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation techniques versus guided imagery therapy on fatigue and quality of life among patients with head and neck cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy in selected hospital at Erode Mrs. Kavitha D1,*, Mrs. Kalpana K2, Mrs. Tamilselvi S3, Mrs. Christy Mekala V4 1RN, RM, M.Sc., (N), Critical Care Nursing, Bishop’s College of Nursing, Dharapuram 2Professor, Medical Surgical Nursing, Bishop’s College of Nursing, Dharapuram 3Professor and Head of The Department Medical Surgical Nursing, Bishop’s College of Nursing, Dharapuram 4Principal and Head of The Department Community Health Nursing, Bishop’s College of Nursing, Dharapuram *Corresponding Author E-mail: kavi.mraur@gmail.com
Online published on 27 April, 2021. Abstract The burden of cancer is growing globally and is one of the top leading causes of death. Among all age-groups the adults aged 50-74 carry highest burden of cancer. Among men, head and neck and gastro-intestinal cancers are prominent. The treatment of this cancer can cause side effects like fatigue, and it can leads to poor quality of life of the patients. This study was aim to compare the effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation techniques versus guided imagery therapy on fatigue and quality of life among patients with head and neck cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy in selected hospital at Erode. Two group pretest post test experimental design was used. The conceptual frame-work was based on modified “Wiedenbach’s Helping Art of Clinical Nursing Theory (1964)”. Non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select the samples. The tool used for this study was Brief Fatigue Inventory Scale for fatigue and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire -C30 (3.0) combined with Head and Neck 35 Scale for quality of life. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The mean post test scores of fatigue in the experimental group-I was 40 (SD ±13.26) and the mean post test scores of fatigue in the experimental group-II was 34 (SD ± 12.1). The independent ‘t’ value for fatigue was 1.93 which was slightly significant at P<0.05 level of significance. The mean post test scores of quality of life in the experimental group-I was 148 (SD±17.43) and the mean post test scores of quality of life in the experimental group-II was 142 (SD ±13.5). The independent ‘t’ test value was 0.420 which was slightly significant at P<0.05 level of significance. There was no significant association between fatigue and quality of life with their selected demographic variables. This study concluded that progressive muscle relaxation techniques and guided imagery was beneficial in reducing fatigue and improving quality of life among patients with head and neck cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Top Keywords Head and Neck cancer, Progressive muscle relaxation, Guided imagery, Fatigue, Quality of life. Top |