Abstract
Background: Sleep disturbances are very common in elderly people. Back massage a noninvasive technique has been used to promote
health and increase comfort recently. Objectives: This is a quasi-experimental study carried out to investigate the effect of back massage on
sleep quality in older people who had poor quality of sleep in a rest home. Methods: This research was carried out in a rest home in İzmir,
Turkey. The sample of the study was composed of 33 older persons. Research data were collected by using Elderly Information Form,
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Sleep Log and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index for three days. The older people received 10 minutes
of back massage in their beds prior to bedtime over three days by the same researcher. Results: The subjects’ PSQI total mean scores were
lower before massage (11.87 ± 2.11) than on the days when the massage (9.78 ± 2.17) was done (t = 8.07, p = .000). It was found that the
massage increased the participants’ quality of sleep. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that back massage has a positive effect
on improvement of sleep quality. The findings provide evidence for the use of back massage for sleep in older people.