None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Behavioural changes including agitation occur to a significant degree in up to 90% of people with dementia. This experimental, within-subjects, crossover design study with nursing home residents aims to compare the effects of foot massage and quiet presence on agitated behaviours in people living with moderate to severe dementia in residental care settings.
Interventions
Foot massage involving long gliding, rhythmical strokes of the entire foot and ankle, and light pressure massage by a certified therapist in the privacy of the participant's bedroom. The intervention consists of 5 minutes massage for each foot, 5 times a week (Mon-Fri) from 1pm-4pm (at a standardized time for each individual) for a period of 3 weeks. After completion of the first treatment arm of the study and after a wash out period of three weeks, participants will then be exposed to the oppos
Foot massage involving long gliding, rhythmical strokes of the entire foot and ankle, and light pressure massage by a certified therapist in the privacy of the participant's bedroom. The intervention consists of 5 minutes massage for each foot, 5 times a week (Mon-Fri) from 1pm-4pm (at a standardized time for each individual) for a period of 3 weeks. After completion of the first treatment arm of the study and after a wash out period of three weeks, participants will then be exposed to the opposite treatment arm and the protocol repeated, that is, those in the first foot massage condition will then move to the quiet presence condition and vice versa.
Sponsors
Griffith University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Crossover
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1) informed consent (i.e., authority received from resident’s themselves and/or relatives and health attorneys to join the research) 2) permanent residence in one of the four chosen residential care facilities in the Brisbane area of South East Queensland for at least 2 months 3) two feet, excluding artificial legs 4) no specific medical-related contraindications (e.g., recent surgery to the area, vessel embolism, peripheral neuropathy, painful bunions or acute illness) 5) a diagnosis of dementia, or met the criteria for probable dementia of Alzheimer’s type as per DSM-IV 6) a Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) score of < 18 indicating moderate to severe dementia 7) a documented history of agitation on nursing or medical records within the previous two weeks 8) a score of >3 points on the PAS 30 during each day over a period of one week. (the screening component of the PAS is used here and the full observation is used in the data collection)
Exclusion criteria
1) consent unobtainable 2) those that are not residents of the care facilities chosen for this trial 3) not having two feet 4) those that have specific medical-related contraindications (e.g., recent surgery to the area, vessel embolism, peripheral neuropathy, painful bunions or acute illness) 5) no diagnosis of dementia, or not met the criteria for probable dementia of Alzheimer’s type as per DSM-IV 6) a Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) score of > 18 7) a score of <3 points on the PAS 30 during each day over a period of one week.
Outcome results
None listed