title: A warm footbath before bedtime and sleep in older Taiwanese with sleep disturbance.
abstract: A single-group crossover design was used to examine the effects of a warm footbath on body temperatures, distal-proximal skin temperature gradient (DPG), and sleep outcomes in 15 Taiwanese elders with self-reported sleep disturbance. Body temperatures and polysomnography were recorded for three consecutive nights. Participants were assigned randomly to receive a 41 degrees C footbath for 40 minutes before sleep onset on night 2 or night 3. Mean DPG before lights off was significantly elevated on the bathing night. There were no significant differences in sleep outcomes between the two nights. However, when the first two non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep periods were examined, the amount of wakefulness was decreased in the second NREM period on the bathing night.
authors.affiliation: Chun Shan Medical University, School of Nursing, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Chun
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Ming-Jang
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Landis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001494:Baths / Q000379:methods*; D001831:Body Temperature; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D017286:Polysomnography; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012881:Skin Temperature; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D012895:Sleep, REM; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome