A warm footbath before bedtime and sleep in older Taiwanese with sleep disturbance.
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.
Liao
Wen-Chun
WC
Chun Shan Medical University, School of Nursing, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
Chiu
Ming-Jang
MJ
Landis
Carol A
CA
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