ABSTRACT:
A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Paced Breathing Exercise on Hot Flushes among Menopausal Women at selected Community, Salem. A Quantitative evaluative approach with Quasi experimental research design was used and 60 samples were selected by non-convenience sampling technique. 30 samples from Poolavari were assigned to experimental group and 30 samples from Karipatti were assigned to control group. The general information was collected and the hot flushes level was categorized according to the Four point rating scale. After the pretest, paced breathing exercise was demonstrated to 30 samples in experimental group. Posttest was done after 21 days. In experimental group, 2(6.66%) women had mild hot flushes, 17(56.66%) had moderate hot flushes and 11(36.66%) had severe hot flushes during pretest. In post test, majority, 22(73.33%) of them had mild hot flushes, 8(26.66%) had moderate hot flushes and none of them had severe hot flushes. In control group, 2(6.66%) had mild hot flushes, majority, i.e. 20(66.66%) of them had moderate hot flushes and 8(26.66%) had severe flushes during pretest. In post test 2(6.66%) had mild hot flushes, majority i.e., 20(66.66%) of them had moderate hot flushes, and 8(26.66%) had severe hot flushes. In the experimental group, the mean pre test score was 44.03+ 6.07, and mean post test score was 25.46+6.05 with the difference of 18.51. In the control group, the mean pretest score was 41.8+5.56 and mean post test score was 41.66+5.9 with the difference of 0.14. The ‘t’ value is 10.39 which shows that the paced breathing exercise is effective on hot flushes among menopausal women in experimental group. Hence the formulated hypothesis H1 was retained at p<0.05 level. There was no significant association between the level of hot flushes and their selected background variables. Hence the formulated hypothesis H2 was rejected at p>0.05 level. This shows paced breathing exercise is a simple, inexpensive and effective method to practice even without any supervision.