The effects of reflexology on symptoms in pregnancy: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

作者：Xiaoyu Liang, Shangping Wu, Ke Li, Haolin Zhang, Fujing Yang, Xinhui Wang, Guangyi Yang · 发表于：Heliyon · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18442 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Pregnancy-related medical research、Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum、Preterm Birth and Chorioamnionitis

Objective: This review assessed the effects of reflexology on symptoms in pregnancy. Methods and analysis: PubMed, Embase, Springer, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and reference lists of previous systematic reviews were searched for the eligible randomized controlled trials (RCT) from the inception date of each predefined database up to May 31st, 2023. Data were extracted, and methodological quality was evaluated by the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2). The efficacy of treatment was assessed using pooled effect sizes (Hedges' g) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.4 manager, and publication bias was evaluated by Begg's test. Results: The included a total of 13 RCTs in this review, of eleven was high risk of bias and two were low, reported the effects of reflexology on low back and/or pelvic pain (LBPP), labor pain, duration of labor, anxiety, fatigue, sleep quality, constipation symptoms, and ankle and foot edema in pregnancy. The effect sizes (Hedges' g) for reflexology in labor pain, duration of labor, anxiety, fatigue, and sleep quality showed statistical significance, which the meta-analysis also confirmed except for fatigue and sleep quality due to insufficient studies. Conclusion: Reflexology is probably effective and safe for labor pain, duration of labor, and anxiety in pregnancy, while the evidences for reflexology in LBPP, fatigue, sleep quality, constipation symptoms, and ankle and...