Effect of Hot Water Foot Immersion Therapy on Level of Fatigue among Advance Stage Cancer Patients

Introduction: Fatigue is a common symptom of advanced cancer, limiting one�s activity and affecting the quality of life. It is a multidimensional symptom complex with subjective and objective components. Aim of the study was to assess the effect of Hot Water Foot immersion therapy on level of fatigue& to choose the action which is cost effective and cheap in reduction of fatigue among advanced stage cancer patients and to promote their quality of life. Objectives were to assess the level of fatigue of cancer patient before Hot Water Foot Immersion Therapy& to evaluate the effect of Hot Water Foot Immersion Therapy on fatigue among cancer patients. Method: This pre-experimental study with one group pretest post test design included a total 48 patients with advance stage (IIIrd& IVth) cancer of lung, oral cavity, cervix and ovary with the age group of 18 years and above who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria selected by Non purposive sampling technique. All the patients were assessed for severity of fatigue using Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) in Radiotherapy unit in the Regional cancer hospital in I. G. M. C.& Hospital, Shimla. Participants were guided to put their feet into the footbath device, which contained water at 41�C to 43�C to cover the feet up to 10 cm above the ankle. HWFIT administered twice a day for 1 day in the same group and post test was conducted on the 2nd day which provides level of fatigue from past 24 hours. This intervention was administered total 3 times and after each intervention 3 immediate post-test was taken. The soaking time was 15 minutes as measured by a timer. Result: It is revealed that mean � S. D. for pre-test was 53.63�7.978 and for post-test mean � S. D. value was 43.27�7.682. The result showed that there is statistically significant decrease (p