Back Massage as an Adjunctive Nursing Intervention for Management of Postprandial Blood Glucose Level in Diabetic Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Author(s): Atyanti Isworo*, Wahyu Ekowati and Senol Dane
Abstract
Introduction: Diabetic patients tend to have uncontrolled blood glucose level or hyperglycaemia. One of nonpharmacological therapy to resolve that problem is back massage. The application of back massage which also stimulate acupressure points on the back will make body relaxation and expected can lower blood glucose. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of back massage on postprandial blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
Methods: This study was a single-blind randomized controlled trial conducted from October-December 2018 at Margono Soekarjo Hospital, Indonesia in which 40 eligible diabetic patiens were randomly assigned into intervention (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. Back massage was performed on the back (20 min per session) per day for 2 weeks.
Results: The result revealed that there was no significant difference in postprandial blood glucose level (p=0.414) between the two groups before intervention. However, after intervention the postprandial blood glucose in the 14th days in the intervention group was significantly lower than the control group (p<0,001).
Conclusions: The results showed that back massage had a positive effect on reducing the postprandial blood glucose level in diabetic patients. Therefore, back massage is recommended as part of nursing care and hospitals can use the protocols to apply this method to reduce hyperglycaemia among diabetic patients.