The effect of massage on comatos patient's vital signs, hospitalized in intensive care units

Sensory stimulation of comatos patients is an important nursing intervention for increasing their LOC and tactile stimulation especially massage is one of the most important stimulations. The nurse as a person, who is responsible for this, must know the effects of this intervention on patients. But there are some conflicts about this intervention's effects especially on vital signs (pulse, blood pressure and respiration). This study was done to determine the effect of massage on comatos patient's vital signs who were hospitalized in intensive care unit. This study is a clinical trial. Samples were consisted of 100 comatos patients, divided into two equal groups randomly. The two groups were matched in age, geneder and glascow coma scale. Samples in experimental group received 20 minutes massage on their back, feet and hands in three continuous days. Vital signs in experimental group were measured before and immediately after intervention and vital signs in control group were measured at the same time with experimental group. A check list used was used for collecting data. Data was analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistics (T, paired T and Chi-square tests). Findings showed that massage decreased vital signs significantly as followed: pulse rate and diastolic blood pressure in each three days (p<0.05), systolic blood pressure in first and third days (p<0.05), respiration rate in second day (p<0.05). This study showed that massage can decrease comatos patient's vital signs which can be the indicator of their relaxation and decreasing stress.