The Effect of Physical Activity and Training of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on the Level of Anxiety and Perceived Stress in Patients With Covid-19

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of physical activity and teaching progressive muscle relaxation on the level of anxiety and perceived stress in patients with Covid-19. The research method was quasi-experimental. Using the available sampling method, 48 patients with Covid-19 were selected from the patients referred to the 16-hour coronavid-19 coronation diagnosis center in the fourth district of Mashhad and screened based on Beck physical activity questionnaire in 4 groups. (2 experiments and 2 control groups) were included. The training groups practiced progressive muscle relaxation for 6 weeks. All participants completed the DASS-21 Stress-Anxiety-Depression Inventory during the pre-test and post-test stages. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance with mixed design. The results showed that the effect of relaxation method on reducing stress in patients with Covid-19 was significant (p <0.05). The results also showed that the effect of progressive muscle relaxation exercise in the affected and active groups was greater than the affected and inactive groups (p <0.05). The results showed that the effect of relaxation training method on anxiety in patients with Covid-19 groups was not significant (p <0.05). Conclusion Progressive muscle relaxation can be effective as a non-pharmacological method in reducing perceived stress caused by Covid-19 disease. Relaxation method is a safe, uncomplicated and low cost method and along with medication and other interventions can be effective in reducing stress, fear and anxiety caused by Covid-19 disease.