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Background: Many patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) experience fatigue due to their disease process and its long period of treatment. Using nonpharmacological methods to help reduce their fatigue is a reasonable endeavor. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of Benson's relaxation technique on fatigue levels in patients after HSCT. Materials and Methods: Thirty-seven patients were randomly selected to the intervention (n = 19) and control group (n = 18). In the intervention group, the participants performed Benson's relaxation exercises for 20 min twice per day over a period of 15 days. The data collection tools used included a demographic and medical information form and the Brief Fatigue Inventory, completed by both groups on three different occasions (upon admission and days 8 and 14 after the HSCT). The data obtained were analyzed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version-20 using statistical tests. Results: The results of the independent t-test showed no significant preintervention differences in fatigue levels between the two groups. On days 8 (t = 11.21, p < 0.001) and 14 after the transplant (t = 15.62, p < 0.001), a significant difference was observed in the mean level of fatigue between the two groups. Conclusions: These findings indicate that Benson's relaxation technique would improve fatigue in HSCT patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue is one of the main complaints of patients undergoing allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Since nonpharmacological interventions are cost-effective and causes fewer complications, this study aimed to review the studies performed on the effects of nonpharmacological interventions on fatigue in patients undergoing HSCT during September 2016. MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scientific Information Database, IranMedex, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Magiran, and IRANDOC databases were searched using Persian and English keywords. A total of 1217 articles were retrieved, 21 of which were used in this study. Exercise is known as an effective intervention in alleviating physical and mental problems of patients undergoing stem cell transplant. This review-based study showed that nonpharmacological methods such as exercise might be effective in decreasing fatigue in patients undergoing stem cell transplant. There is a multitude of studies on some of the complementary and alternative therapy methods, such as music therapy, yoga, relaxation, and therapeutic massage. These studies demonstrated the positive effects of the aforementioned therapies on reduction of fatigue in patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. All the investigated methods in this study were nonaggressive, safe, and cost-effective and could be used along with common treatments or even as an alternative for pharmacological treatments for the reduction, or elimination of fatigue in patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. Given the advantages of complementary and alternative medicine, conducting further studies on this issue is recommended to reduce fatigue in patients after stem cell transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pain is a common phenomenon after surgery. Cardiac surgeries are no exception and patients generally experience acute pain after these surgeries. Inadequate pain management after cardiac surgery predisposes patients to many complications. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of listening to preferred music on pain intensity after open heart surgery. Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial (RCT) conducted in open heart intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital in Sari, Iran. A total of 60 patients who were scheduled to undergo open heart surgery were randomly allocated in two groups. Patients in the intervention group (n = 30) listened to their preferred music by headphones for 30 minutes, whereas those in the control group (n = 30) did not listen to music. Using a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), pain intensity was measured among the patients before the intervention, and immediately, 30 minutes and one hour after the intervention. Data was analyzed by Chi-square test, student's t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings: Mean pain intensity in the intervention group before, immediately after, 30 minutes and one hour after the intervention were 5.8, 3.1, 2.5 and 2.4, respectively. Corresponding numbers in the control group were 4.7, 4.7, 4.8 and 4.9, respectively. Repeated measures ANOVA showed music to significantly reduce pain intensity (p = 0.0001) Conclusions: Music can be effective as a non-pharmacological, inexpensive, non-invasive and side effect free method for pain management after open heart surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]