The effect of progressive muscle relaxation on the severity of restless leg syndrome in patients under treatment with hemodialysis

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is one of the common complications in patients under treatment with hemodialysis. Progressive muscle relaxation is a method which has been designed for reducing patients’ stress, pain and anxiety. The present study aimed to determine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation on the severity of RLS in hemodialysis patients.
Methods & Materials: In this quasi-experimental study (IRCT2015102824769N1), 74 hemodialysis patients were selected by convenience sampling method and divided into intervention and control groups based on records numbers. The intervention group was trained in progressive muscle relaxation technique in two half-hour sessions and they were asked to practice it twice a day for one month. RLS severity was measured using the standardized RLS questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistical tests (independent and paired t-test, analysis of co-variance) using SPSS software version 23.
There was no significant difference in the distribution of variables in the intervention and control group before intervention (P>0.05). Before the intervention, RLS severity score was 28.24±7.33 in the intervention group and 25.57±9.85 in the control group (P=0.189). After the intervention, the score for the intervention group was reduced to 10.67±5.66 (P>0.001) while there was no significant change in the control group after the intervention (26.16±9.69). Also, a significant difference was observed between the two groups in the mean score of RLS severity after removing the effect of RLS severity on pretest (P>0.0001).
The use of progressive muscle relaxation technique reduces RLS severity in patients under treatment with hemodialysis. Therefore, this technique is recommended to be used as one of the non-pharmacological methods to improve RLS in these patients.