This study was conducted to investigate the effects of foot reflexzone massage on state - anxiety and discomfort of ovarian cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

A quasi experimental design with a non equivalent control group and non synchronized design was used. The experiment was conducted from October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004. The subjects consisted of 40 patients admitted to C University Hospital. Twenty subjects were assigned to the experimental group and received foot reflexzone massage everyday for 3 days. The other 20 subjects were in the control group and received routine care. Foot reflexzone massage was done on both feet of the subjects for 30 minutes for 3 days using standard protocol. The 'State-Anxiety Inventory' developed by Spielberger was used to measure the degree of state-anxiety. Discomfort was assessed using the 'Symptom Distress Scale' of McCorkle and Young. Data was analyzed by a SAS program using t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank sum test and Wilcoxon rank sum test.

State-anxiety and discomfort of subjects receiving foot reflexzone massage were significantly lower than those of the control group.

These findings indicate that foot reflexzone massage could be an effective nursing intervention for relieving state-anxiety and discomfort in ovarian cancer patients.