Symptom Control and Physiological Effects of Reflexology Applied After Stroke

This study is designed as a randomized controlled intervention with a pre-test-post-test design to evaluate the effect of reflexology on pain, physiological parameters, and sleep quality in stroke patients. The study will be conducted at the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Unit of Van Training and Research Hospital between October 2024 and June 2025. Using a simple randomization method, patients will be assigned to either the control group or the reflexology intervention group, with an anticipated sample size of 35 patients per group. Data will be collected using the Personal Information Form, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the Richards-Campbell Sleep Scale (RCSS), and a physiological parameters recording form. Patients in the intervention group will receive reflexology massage twice a week for six weeks, for a total of 12 sessions. Each session will last 30 minutes (15 minutes per foot), in addition to routine nursing care. Physiological parameters will be recorded before and after each reflexology session. The control group will receive routine nursing care only, and their physiological parameters will be monitored twice weekly using the same schedule. All scales and forms will be administered again at the end of the 6-week period. The study aims to determine whether reflexology influences pain levels, physiological parameters, and sleep quality in stroke patients. Findings from this research may contribute to the evidence base regarding complementary interventions in post-stroke nursing care; however, no study results are yet available in this protocol record.