Background

Foot reflexology has been considered an important complementary therapy for many health-related symptoms, especially for some chronic conditions such as anxiety, stress, pain and fatigue. Some studies also showed that foot reflexology had a significant effect on functional constipation, whereas some studies did not. The effect of foot reflexology on functional constipation remains controversial. Therefore, an evidence-based systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials were conducted to investigate the effect of foot reflexology on functional constipation.

Methods

Randomised controlled trials were identified by searching five electronic databases and hand-searching eligible reference lists. Studies that reported the effect of foot reflexology on functional constipation were included. Two reviewers performed the study screening, quality assessment and data extraction. Any discrepancy was discussed with a third reviewer. Quantitative synthesis was conducted for the same outcome measurements by calculating weighted risk ratios.

Results

A total of 203 records were identified, of which seven were eligible. Overall, foot reflexology significantly increased the curative ratio, with a pooled risk ratio of 1.27 (95% CI: 1.16, 1.40, p < 0.00001). Three trials compared the improvement of constipation-related symptoms after intervention in both the experimental and control groups by evaluating the constipation-related symptom scores. The results all showed that foot reflexology can effectively improve constipation-related symptoms. However, one trial reported that foot reflexology had no significant effect on stool frequency and stool consistency. Two studies indicated that foot reflexology significantly reduced the recurrence rate of functional constipation. One study reported the effect of foot reflexology on compliance with the toilet training, diet and motivation. Nevertheless, no significant improvement was detected.

Conclusion

Foot reflexology is an effective complementary therapy for treating functional constipation. However, because of the small number of included studies and their small sample sizes, the current evidence was insufficient to support the effectiveness of foot reflexology in reducing the recurrence rate, improving the constipation-related symptom, and compliance with toilet training, diet and motivation. Randomised controlled trials with long-term follow-up are needed for further investigation.

中文翻译：

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足部反射疗法治疗功能性便秘：系统评价和荟萃分析。

背景

足部反射疗法被认为是许多与健康相关的症状的重要补充疗法，特别是对于一些慢性疾病，如焦虑、压力、疼痛和疲劳。一些研究还表明，足部反射疗法对功能性便秘有显着影响，而一些研究则没有。足部反射疗法对功能性便秘的影响仍存在争议。因此，对随机对照试验进行了基于证据的系统评价和荟萃分析，以研究足部反射疗法对功能性便秘的影响。

方法

通过搜索五个电子数据库和手动搜索合格的参考列表来确定随机对照试验。研究报告了足部反射疗法对功能性便秘的影响。两名评审员进行了研究筛选、质量评估和数据提取。与第三位评审员讨论了任何差异。通过计算加权风险比对相同的结果测量进行定量综合。

结果

共确定了 203 条记录，其中 7 条符合条件。总体而言，足部反射疗法显着提高了治愈率，综合风险比为 1.27 (95% CI: 1.16, 1.40, p < 0.00001)。三项试验通过评估便秘相关症状评分，比较了实验组和对照组干预后便秘相关症状的改善情况。结果都表明足部反射疗法可以有效改善便秘相关症状。然而，一项试验报告说，足部反射疗法对大便频率和大便稠度没有显着影响。两项研究表明，足部反射疗法显着降低了功能性便秘的复发率。一项研究报告了足部反射疗法对如厕训练、饮食和动力依从性的影响。然而，没有发现明显的改善。

结论

足部反射疗法是治疗功能性便秘的有效辅助疗法。然而，由于纳入的研究数量少且样本量小，目前的证据不足以支持足部反射疗法在降低复发率、改善便秘相关症状以及遵守如厕训练、饮食和动机方面的有效性. 需要进行长期随访的随机对照试验进行进一步研究。