Foot Soaking Therapy with Warm Water Decrease Blood Pressure of Patients with Hypertension

Abstract

The goal in caring patients with hypertension is to maintain normal blood pressure. Foot soaking therapy is a relaxation technique that could be used to manage blood pressure. This study analyzed the effect of foot soaking therapy with warm water on blood pressure in elderly. This research used quasy experimental with control group pretest-posttest design. The sampling technique was purposive sampling involving 30 respondents divided into 15 respondents as experimental group and 15 respondents as control group. Foot soaking therapy was done in 5 days within 15 minutes for each session. Data were analyzed by using dependent and independent t test with confidence interval of 95% (α = 0.05). There was significant difference of blood pressure after therapy (p sistolic = 0.001; p diastolic = 0.001). Meanwhile, there was no significant difference of blood pressure in control group (p sistolic = 0.682; p diastolic = 0.185). In both groups, the blood pressure of elderly with hypertension declined but higher in the intervention group than in the control group. There was a significant difference of blood pressure between two groups (p sistolik = 0.001 and p diastolic = 0.001). The relaxation effect of foot soaking therapy stimulates the pituitary gland to release endorphine hormone, causing systemic vasodilation. Therefore, foot soaking therapy using warm water affects the blood pressure on elderly with hypertension.