The Effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on Sleep Quality, Sleepiness and Quality of Life of Older Adults in Adult Day-Care Center

Various physical and mental problems and diseases may develop with aging. Poor sleep quality is the third most common major problem in older adults, affecting all aspects of life. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can be used to treat the disease in older adults.

This interventional study attempted to investigate the effect of EFT on sleep quality, sleepiness, and quality of life of older adults.

This was a quasi-experimental study. The selection of the participants was based on the convenience sampling method. Twenty-one people participated in the study and were divided into two groups of interventions. The study was conducted in the adult day-care center. In one group, 11 peopleandin the other group, 10 people were included. First, an educational session regarding sleep hygiene was held. Then, the EFT was administered for 4 weeks, 2 sessions per week, and each session lasted for 30 - 45 minutes in the intervention group by the student (first author); sleep hygiene training was also provided for the second group. Study measures included the PSQI (Pittsburgh sleep quality index), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and the Quality-of-Life Scale. Follow-ups were performed after the intervention and one month later. The statistical tests used were repeated measures and chi-Square tests. A P-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

The trend of changes in sleep quality (P = 0.001, P = 0.001, respectively) and sleepiness (P = 0.023, P = 0.001, respectively) was incremental and significant before and after the intervention and one month later in each of the groups, but results show that there was no significant interaction effect for any subscale, including subjective sleep quality (P = 0.786), sleepiness (P = 0.568), and quality of life (P = 0.289).

According to the results, the EFT was effective on sleep quality, sleepiness, and quality of life of older adults in the adult day-care center, and sleep hygiene was influential.