INTRODUCTION:

Ageing is a normal, inevitable biological phenomenon which brings along two inconvenient events: physiological decline and disease state. The lifetime of developing hypertension is approximately 90% in the middle aged and older. (Anchala, 2014). Hypertension is the major contributor of stroke, ischemic heart disease, renal dysfunction and blindness and the treatment are expensive only few people manage to keep their blood pressure under control. There are many different types of complementary and alternative treatments believed to be effective for treating hypertension. (Lakatta, 1993). Yoga-nidra is a dynamic state of sleep and it is a systematic method of inducing complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. (Pandya, 2007)

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

In 2010, 100 million people were aged above 60 years and by 2020 it will be 177 million globally. Elderly population contributed to 7% of total population of India in 2001 and it will rise to 9% by 2016. Prevalence of hypertension among elderly in India- 29.8%, in Tamil Nadu-26.9% and in Coimbatore- 36.45%. (Nataraj VS et al 2015.)

Many hypertensives require two or more drugs of different combinations which may lead to adverse drug interactions and side effects. Yoga-nidra is a safe, effective and inexpensive treatment adopted either alone or an adjunct therapy. It has been found to reduce systolic readings by an average of 15-20 mm Hg and diastolic readings by 10 mm Hg. (Kumar, 2005).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Effect of Yoga-nidra on Blood Pressure among Elderly with Hypertension Residing at Selected Old age Homes, Coimbatore.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

· To assess the level of blood pressure among elderly with hypertension residing at selected old age homes.

· To evaluate the effect of yoga-nidra on blood pressure among elderly with hypertension residing at selected old age homes.

· To find an association between selected demographic variables and blood pressure.

HYPOTHESIS:

H₁: There will be a significant difference in the level of blood pressure among elderly with hypertension residing at selected old age homes before and after yoga-nidra in experimental group.

H2: There will be a significant difference in the level of blood pressure among elderly with hypertension between experimental and control group.

METHODOLOGY:

Quantitative research research approach was adapted for this study with Quasi Experimental, Pretest, Posttest Control group design. The study was conducted at two selected old age homes namely Universal Peace Foundation and Ozanam Home for Aged. By using convenient sampling technique, 20 elderly with hypertension from Universal Peace Foundation were assigned for experimental group and 15 elderly with hypertension from Ozanam Home for Aged for control group. In this study, the independent variable was yoga-nidra and the dependent variable was level of blood pressure among elderly with hypertension. Demographic data consists of age, gender, educational status, marital status, religion, personal habits and family history of hypertension. Health history consists of duration of hypertension, hobbies, duration of intake of antihypertensive and duration of stay at old age home. The blood pressure was measured indirectly by auscultation using stethoscope and mercury sphygmomanometer. Ethical consent was obtained from the institutional ethical committee. Informed consent was obtained from each study participants. Yoga-nidra starts with the initial stage of relaxation, affirmation, rotation of consciousness, respiration awareness, manifestations of opposites, creative visualization then affirmation is repeated and a return to full awareness. Yoga-nidra was given for the elderly in the experimental group for 20 minutes in the morning between 6-8 AM once daily for 15 days. In the experimental and control group blood pressure measurements were taken in the sitting position on the first and fifteenth day in the morning between 6-8 AM.

RESULTS:

Effect of Yoga-nidra on Blood Pressure among Elderly with Hypertension

Blood Pressure (mm of Hg)	Group	Mean	SD	Mean difference	't' value
Systolic blood pressure	Experimental Group	130.4	11.68	-16.93	4.19***
Systolic blood pressure	Control Group	147.33	11.23	-16.93	4.19***
Diastolic blood pressure	Experimental Group	82.8	3.06	-5.73	3.98***
Diastolic blood pressure	Control Group	88.53	4.97	-5.73	3.98***

***Significant at 0.001 level

Un paired 't' test was used to compare the level of blood pressure after the intervention among the experimental and control group. The calculated ‘t’ value for systolic and diastolic blood pressure was 4.19 and 3.98 which was greater than the table value at 0.001 level of significance. Hence the research hypothesis ‘There will be a significant difference in the level of blood pressure among elderly with hypertension in experimental and control group’ was accepted.

The factors such as age and education found to have significant association with the level of systolic and diastolic blood pressure at 0.05 level.

Major findings:

· The study shows that majority of elderly with hypertension had moderate level of systolic blood pressure in both experimental (50%) and control group (66.67%) before yoga-nidra.

· The study shows that the mean systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure was found to be reduced from 154.5 to 130.4 and 92.2 to 82.8 mm Hg respectively after yoga-nidra in experimental group.

· In control group there is no change in the level of systolic and diastolic blood pressure before and after the intervention, majority are having moderate level of systolic (66.67% and 73.33%) and diastolic blood pressure (66.67%) respectively.

· The factors such as age and education had significant association with the level of systolic and diastolic blood pressure among elderly with hypertension at 0.05 level.

CONCLUSION:

Chronic morbidities like hypertension is becoming a common health problem among the elderly accounting for 29.8% in India. The control of hypertension by relaxation and meditation techniques are highly recommended as primary prevention or as therapy with or without drugs. Yoga-nidra is found to be non-invasive, easy to practice and cost effective which do not have appreciable side effects in controlling hypertension. The present study shows a significant difference in the level of blood pressure at 0.001 level. Hence yoga-nidra can be considered as an effective practice to be introduced as a preventive measure of the silent killer hypertension.

REFERENCES:

1. Anchala, R., Kannuri, N. K., Pant, H., Franco, O. H., Khan, H., Prabhakaran, D., et al., (2014). Hypertension in India: A systematic review and meta analysis of prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension. Journal of Hypertension, 32 (6), 1170-1171.

2. Deepa, T., Sethu, G., and Thirunavukkarasu. (2012). Effect of yoga and meditation on mild to moderate essential hypertensives. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research, 6 (1), 21-26.

3. Devi, S., and Kala, S. (2015). Role of yoga-nidra and shirodhara on hypertensive patients. International journal of yoga and allied sciences, 4 (1), 22-27.

4. Gupta, P. (2014). Prevalence of hypertension and its association with socio demographic factors in geriatric population of rural Varanasi. Journal of Advanced Research in medical science and technology, 1(2). Retrieved from website http://52.27.6.4/index.php/JoARMST/article/view/130.

5. Gupta, S. (2007). Statistical methods (11^th edition). New Delhi: Sulthan chand and sons publications.

6. Kumar, K. (2005). Effect of yoga nidra on hypertension and other psychological co-relates. Yoga the science Journal, 3 (7), 26-38.

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Received on 22.06.2018 Modified on 16.07.2018

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2019; 7(1): 30-32

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2019.00006.1