A STUDY TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF CONTRAST FOOT BATH THERAPY ON NEUROPATHY PAIN AMONG PATIENT WITH DIABETES MELLITUS

Gayathri, Helen Elizabath, Deepa, Lingaraj Chitra

Introduction: Diabetes neuropathy is one of the most common and debilitating complications associated with both Type I and Type II diabetes mellitus. Neuropathy pain is often difficult to manage with pharmacological measures alone, and non-pharmacological interventions are increasingly being explored to provide additional relief. One such effective complementary therapy is contrast foot bath therapy, which involves the alternation of hot and cold water immersion. Aim: The present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of contrast foot bath therapy on neuropathy pain among diabetes mellitus patients at a selected hospital in Coimbatore. Methods: A study of one group pre and post-test design. By using non – probability, purposive sampling technique, a total of 60 patients of diabetes mellitus were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The background variables were assessed by interview technique and, the level of neuropathy pain was assessed by using Lanss pain scale before the intervention. Results and Conclusion: The results of the independent t-test revealed a statistically significant improvement. Overall, the Total Score decreased from 15.6 to 4.67, with a high t-value of 6.09 (p = 0.05), confirming that the intervention was highly effective in reducing symptoms across all dimensions. The significance Levels across all domains (p < 0.05) indicate that the changes observed are statistically significant and not due to chance.