The Effect of Progressive Relaxation Exercises Applied to Patients With Epilepsy

Epilepsy; It is a disease characterized by sudden, repetitive, epileptic seizures that are not triggered by an identifiable event and occur as a result of abnormal and excessive electrical discharge in cortical neurons from ancient times to the present. It is known that epilepsy has important social and psychological effects. Seizure recurrence and fear of social exclusion are life-threatening factors for epilepsy patients. These difficulties negatively affect the quality of life of patients by causing high levels of anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and low self-esteem. Many positive effects of progressive relaxation exercises on anxiety, depression, sleep and quality of life have been observed. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of progressive relaxation exercises applied to epilepsy patients on depression, sleep and quality of life. This study, which was planned as an experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group, will be carried out by randomly dividing 60 patients diagnosed with epilepsy, who applied to the Neurology Outpatient Clinic and Clinic of Fırat University Hospital, between September 2021 and June 2022, into 2 groups as intervention and control groups. Written consent will be obtained from the patients who agreed to participate in the study at the beginning of the study, and the study will begin. Before any intervention is made in the intervention group and control group, a pre-test will be performed using the Patient Information Form, Beck Depression Scale, Pitssburg Sleep Quality Index, and Quality of Life Scale (QOLIE 31) to evaluate depression, sleep and quality of life of these patients. The intervention group will be given progressive relaxation exercises 3 times a week for 4 weeks and the control group will not make any interventions. With the posttest, both the intervention and control groups will be filled with the Patient Information FormBeck Depression Scale, Pitssburg Sleep Quality and Quality of Life Scale (QOLIE 31) and depression, sleep and quality of life will be evaluated. Finally, it will be checked whether there is a significant difference between the pretest and the posttest.