Intervention
The surgical ward head nurses were asked to identify
older patients who met the inclusion criteria. Participants
were randomly assigned to experimental and control
groups according to file numbers (even numbers to the
experiment group and odd to the control group), balancing
for sex, age and chronic pain.
All participants were provided with information about
their surgery and the current ward protocols regarding
ambulation afterwards. The systematic relaxation techniques
were applied based on previously published
protocols. The experimental group patients were
given an audio tape containing the technique’s instructions,
whereas patients in the control group received
normal care. The audio tape included information about
the relaxation techniques, their benefits and importance—
these were repeated during their use. The participants
listened to the tape until they were confident that they had
mastered the techniques and could apply them correctly.
They used fixed earphones to prevent distraction and
improve concentration.
The participants were asked to report the intensity of
their pain and anxiety using the VAS scales at four times
(before the intervention, following the 15-min recovery
period from initial ambulation, and 6 and 12 h after the
intervention).
To assess and compare levels of analgesics used, the
intake of opioid drugs during the first 12 h after initial
ambulation was converted as the number of milligrams of
morphine administered by staff nurses and recorded in the
patient’s file.