مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUES ON DYSMENORRHEA

Abstract :

Objective: This semiexperimental study aims to investigate the effects of “Emotional Freedom Techniques” on dysmenorrhea. Methods: The study was conducted between May 2007 and February 2008 with 30 students from the Nursing School who had complaints of dysmenorrhea and consented to participate in the study. The study data were collected with a personal information form and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Pain levels of all students participated in the study were evaluated before Emotional Freedom Techniques were implemented. The techniques were implemented by a certified researcher and it was followed a reevaluation of the pain levels of students. The difference between the means of pain levels was statistically assessed. The data analysis was carried out via percentage analysis and t test. Results: The average age of the participants was 22.26±0.7. 80% of the students complained that they had menstrual pain in the first day, 56.7% of the participant students reported subabdominal pain and 76.7% used analgesics to reduce pain. The results further illustrated that 96.7% of the participants stated having considerably less menstrual pain after the implementation of Emotional Freedom Techniques while 3.3% of the participants (1 student) reported no change in pain levels. It was also found that the mean score of pain levels was 6.16 before implementing Emotional Freedom Techniques whereas it was 1.96 after the implementation, which was considered to be statistically meaningful (p 0.001). Conclusion: In light of the study results, it was concluded that Emotional Freedom Techniques could be an effective method in reducing dysmenorrhea.