Effectiveness of Guided Imagery Technique in Reduction of Stress Level among Chronic Renal Failure Patients

Abstract

Background: A quasi experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of guided imagery technique in
reduction of stress level among chronic renal failure patients. The aim of the study wasto determine the
stress level among patients with chronic renal failure in experimental group after introduction of guided
imagery. Methods and Material: A true experimental two-group pre-test - post-test design was used for the
present study. The sample consisted of 100 chronic renal failure patients undergoing dialysis were randomly
assigned to experimental group and control group (N=50+50=100). Data was analysed using paired and
unpaired‘t’ test, chi-square test, Karl Pearson correlation co-efficiency, and Spearman’s correlation coefficiency. Results: In experimental Group 62% of the samples had moderate level of stress, 20% of the
samples had severe level of stress and 18% of the samples had mild level of stress with mean and SD of
64.02, 5.88. There was a significant reduction in the mean post test stress score of experimental group
compared to mean pre test stress score of experimental group at 0.05 level of significance. (t49 = 6.526, P
< 0.05). The results showed that chronic renal failure patients had significant level of stress related to their
illness and guided imagery is an effective intervention for reduction of stress. Conclusion: Guided imagery
is a simple non-invasive, cost effective, method that can be used for reduction of stress without any adverse
effects on the patients. Patients themselves can practice their own imagery without any assistance.