Effectiveness Of Box Breathing Exercise On Stress Reduction Among Women After Mastectomy In Selected Settings At Thoothukudi And Tirunelveli District.

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is on the rise, both in rural and urban India. A 2018 report of Breast Cancer statistics recorded 1,62,468 new registered cases and 87,090 reported deaths. It is reported that with every four minutes, an Indian woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. Box breathing helps to reduce stress. It calms our nervous system, distracts our mind, and activates the parasympathetic nervous system.

Methods: AQuasi experimental pilot study, pretest and posttest with control group interrupted time series design with quantitative approach was conducted to assess the effectiveness of box breathing exercise on stress reduction among women after mastectomy. Box breathing exercise was predominantly given by nurses to relieve stress and   improve the psychological wellbeing of 70 women between the age group of 25 to

 65 years old after mastectomy. Stress questionnaire for cancer patients was used to assess the stress. Purposive sampling technique was used for selecting sample for the study.

Results: Data analysis was done by using descriptive statistics such as median,interquartile range and inferential statistics like chi square analysis and correlation coefficient. In experimental group, Repeated measures F-test analysis shows that, mean overall stress score is statistically significant different between pre-test and posttest-III( F = 23.51, P ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion:   Therefore, we can conclude that box breathing reduces significantly stress score among women after mastectomy.