Table 2.
Change Scores in Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Across the Three-Week Intervention Period
| Mean change scores (σ) | Effect of group | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent variable | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | F-Value | Significance (p=) | Partial η2 |
| Heart rate | −1.37 (0.75) | −1.33 (0.92) | 0.35 (1.36) | 0.78 | 0.46 | 0.02 |
| Systolic blood pressure | −14.24 (1.57) | −4.66 (2.42) | −6.54 (2.325) | 15.79 | <0.01* | 0.24 |
| Diastolic blood pressure | −1.32 (1.30) | −0.77 (1.47) | −6.56 (1.23) | 5.77 | 0.01 | 0.10 |
*
p<0.05; σ=standard deviation; change scores were calculated for blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and heart rate for each of the 15 foot massage or quiet presence sessions (i.e., post- minus pre-intervention). A weekly mean change score was then calculated for the foot massage and silent resting groups across the three weeks of intervention (i.e., sum of change scores in a week divided by 5).