Effect of Abdominal Massage and Bed Exercise on Palliative Care Patients

NCT07125482 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 1 other identifier: Abdominal massage
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 105
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Palliative care is a special type of medical care that focuses on providing support and improving the quality of life for individuals facing life-threatening illnesses. Nursing care for patients receiving enteral nutrition includes interventions that facilitate nutrition, increase patient comfort, and reduce complications. This study will be conducted as a randomized controlled experimental study to evaluate the effects of abdominal massage and in-bed exercise on gastrointestinal complications and patient comfort in palliative care patients.

Conditions

Palliative Care, Patient Care; Gastrointestinal Complication

Keywords

palliative care; comfort; gastrointestinal complication

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The effect of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal complications

  Abdominal massage was repeated for 3 days, and , diarrhea status and number, constipation status, vomiting status and number, nausea status, abdominal distension, and defecation number measurement were recorded before each abdominal massage.

  96 hours

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Effects of in-bed exercise on gastrointestinal complications

  96 hours

Other Outcomes (2)

• The effect of abdominal massage on patient comfort

  96 hours

• The effect of in-bed exercise on patient comfort

  96 hours

Study Arms (3)

control group

EXPERIMENTAL

\- Standard nursing care will be applied to the patient.

Other: control group

abdominal massage group

EXPERIMENTAL

* In this group, patients will receive abdominal massage by the researcher, in addition to routine care, with privacy. * Abdominal massage will be applied to the patient by the researcher every morning between 07-08 and 19-20 for 3 days before enteral feeding, and measurements will be recorded 24 hours after the application at 07-08 in the morning. The timing and frequency of massage application were decided according to studies in the literature and expert opinions (Uysal et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2023). * Before abdominal massage, the patient will be placed in a supine position and will remain in the same position throughout the procedure. * For abdominal massage, superficial effleurage, deep effleurage, petrissage, vibration and superficial effleurage maneuvers will be applied to the patient for approximately 15 minutes, respectively. * After the application, the patient will be placed in a semi-fawler position

Other: abdominal massage

bed exercise group

EXPERIMENTAL

The in-bed exercise application will be applied to the patient by the researcher every morning between 07-08 for 3 days before enteral feeding and the measurements will be recorded 24 hours after the application. The patient will be placed in a supine position before the in-bed exercise application and will be kept in the same position throughout the procedure. For the in-bed exercise application, the following will be applied to the patient, in order; opening and closing the wrist and fingers inwards and outwards, opening and closing the elbow and arm, turning the arm right and left at the level of the head, ankle up and down and right and left, bending and releasing the hip and knee, opening and closing the leg sideways, pushing and pulling the hip and knee 90°, and leg up and down movements will be applied for approximately 15 minutes. After the application, the patient will be placed in the semi-fawler position.

Other: bed exercise group

Interventions

bed exercise group OTHER

In the first interview, demographic data and other patient information will be collected from the patient record file between 07-08 in the morning before starting bed exercise and nutrition, and the "Patient Information Form" and "Comfort Behavior Checklist, Wong-Baker Face Pain Scale", 'Enteral Nutrition Monitoring Form' will be filled in by the researcher before the intervention and nutrition (1st Interview). * In the first interview, bed exercises will be applied by the researcher for approximately 15 minutes before nutrition between 07-08 in the morning (1st Interview). * In the second interview, bed exercises will be repeated for approximately 15 minutes after filling out the 'Enteral Nutrition Monitoring Form' before bed exercise and nutrition between 07-08 in the morning (2nd Interview). * In the third interview, bed exercises will be repeated for approximately 15 minutes after filling out the 'Enteral Nutrition Monitoring Form' before bed exercise and nutrition between 07-08 in

bed exercise group

abdominal massage OTHER

* In the first interview, between 07-08 in the morning, demographic data and other information about the patients will be collected from the patient record file before the intervention and feeding by the researcher using the "Patient Information Form" and "Comfort Behavior Checklist, Wong-Baker Facial Pain Scale", 'Enteral Feeding Monitoring Form' (Interview 1). * In the first interview, between 07-08 in the morning, abdominal massage will be applied to the patient by the researcher for approximately 15 minutes before feeding (Interview 1). * In the second interview, between 07-08 in the morning, abdominal massage will be repeated for approximately 15 minutes by filling out the 'Enteral Feeding Monitoring Form' before feeding and abdominal massage will be repeated (Interview 2). * In the third interview, between 07-08 in the morning, the 'Enteral Nutrition Monitoring Form' will be filled out before abdominal massage and feeding, and the abdominal massage will be repeated for approxim

abdominal massage group

control group OTHER

In the first interview, between 07-08 am, demographic data and other patient information will be collected from the patient record file before feeding, using the "Patient Information Form" and the "Comfort Behavior Checklist, Wong-Baker Facial Pain Scale", 'Enteral Feeding Monitoring Form', before the intervention and feeding (Interview 1). * In the second interview, between 07-08 am, the 'Enteral Feeding Monitoring Form' will be filled out before feeding (Interview 2). * In the third interview, between 07-08 am, the 'Enteral Feeding Monitoring Form' will be filled out before feeding (Interview 3). * In the fourth interview, between 07-08 in the morning, data will be collected with the "Comfort Behavior Checklist", Wong-Baker Facial Pain Scale and 'Enteral Feeding Monitoring Form' before feeding (Interview 4).

control group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 95 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Being over 18 years of age,
• Patients receiving inpatient treatment and care in the palliative care unit,
• Patients who started enteral feeding at least 24 hours ago
• Patients without wounds in the extremity and abdominal region
• Patients without intestinal obstruction
• Patients who have not received abdominal radiotherapy and have not undergone abdominal surgery in the last six weeks
• Patients with a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) \>3
• Patients who have no restrictions on abdominal massage
• Patients whose consent has been obtained from their relatives will be included.

You may not qualify if:

• Patients whose enteral feeding was stopped during the study
• Patients who showed signs of infection due to Ventilator-associated Pneumonia or other infections during or before the study will not be included.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam Unıversity

Kahramanmaraş, Kahramanmaraş, 46000, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Gungor Unal S, Dusak I, Akcoban S. The Effect of Abdominal Massage and In-Bed Exercise on Gastrointestinal Complications, Pain and Comfort in Palliative Care Patients: A Randomised Controlled Trial. Scand J Caring Sci. 2026 Jun;40(2):e70234. doi: 10.1111/scs.70234.

  PMID: 41891325 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Control Groups

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Epidemiologic Research Design; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Research Design; Methods

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: PhD Lecturer

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 25, 2025
• First Posted: August 15, 2025
• Study Start: March 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: May 25, 2025
• Study Completion: March 30, 2026
• Last Updated: March 31, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-06

Locations

TU (1)