ArticleIranian journal of nursing and midwifery research2010
Comparing the effects of reflexology methods and Ibuprofen administration on dysmenorrhea in female students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.
Article in Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effect of Foot Reflexology on the Sexual Function of Lactating Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Reviews on recent clinical trials · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of medical taping concept in primary dysmenorrhoea: a two-armed randomized trial.Scientific reports · 2015Trial
- Foot reflexology in feet impairment of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus: randomized trial.Revista latino-americana de enfermagemTrial
- Primary dysmenorrhea and quality of life among university nursing students in Vietnam.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Manual Therapy in Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
- Comparison of two methods of complementary medicine on postoperative pain and anxiety: A randomized clinical trial.Journal of education and health promotion · 2023Article
- Effect of Foot Reflexology on Capillary Blood Glucose, Tissue Temperature, and Plantar Pressure of Individuals With Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2): A Pilot Study.Journal of chiropractic medicine · 2018Article
- Effects of wheat germ extract on the severity and systemic symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized controlled clinical trial.Iranian Red Crescent medical journal · 2014Article
- Determination of efficacy of reflexology in managing patients with diabetic neuropathy: a randomized controlled clinical trial.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2014Article
- A comparative study on vaccination pain in the methods of massage therapy and mothers' breast feeding during injection of infants referring to Navabsafavi Health Care Center in Isfahan.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research · 2013Article
- The effect of aquatic exercises on primary dysmenorrhoea in nonathlete girls.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research · 2013Article
- The effect of acupressure at the Sanyinjiao point (SP6) on primary dysmenorrhea in students resident in dormitories of Tabriz.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research · 2011Article
- The effect of reflexology on pain perception aspects in nurses with chronic low back pain in Isfahan.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery researchArticle
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDysmenorrhea or menstrual pain is one of the most common disorders experienced by 50% of women in their reproductive age. Adverse effects of medical treatments and its failure rate of 20-25% have caused many women to seek other complementary and alternative treatment methods for primary dysmenorrhea. Hence, this study aimed to compare and determine the efficacy of reflexology and Ibuprofen on reduction of pain intensity and duration of menstrual pain.
methodsThis was a quasi-experimental clinical trial study on 68 students with primary dysmenorrhea living in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences' dormitories. Simple random sampling was done considering the inclusion criteria and then the students were randomly divided into two groups. In the reflexology group, the subjects received 10 reflexology sessions (40 minutes each) in two consecutive mense cycles. The Ibuprofen group received Ibuprofen (400 mg), once every eight hours for 3 days during 3 consecutive mense cycles. To assess the severity of dysmenorrhea, Standard McGill Pain Questionnaire, visual analog scale (VAS) and pain rating index (PRI) were used in this study.
resultsFindings of the study showed that the two groups had no statistically significant difference in terms of demographic characteristics (p > 0.05). Reflexology method was associated with more reduction of intensity and duration of menstrual pain in comparison with Ibuprofen therapy. Independent and Paired t-test showed that there was a significant difference in the two groups between intensity and duration of menstrual pain using VAS and PRI in each of the 3 cycles between reflexology and Ibuprofen groups (p < 0.05).
conclusionsConsidering the results of the study, reflexology was superior to Ibuprofen on reducing dysmenorrhea and its treatment effect continued even after discontinuing the intervention in the third cycle. Therefore, considering that reflexology is a non-invasive, easy and cheap technique, it seems that it can replace anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to avoid their adverse side effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
22069413PMC3208937W158038945What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.