Yafteh

High blood pressure is a disorder associated with stress. In numerous people, behavioral strategies or stress management interventions such as relaxation and massage are useful in control of their response to stress and consequently , the reduction of blood pressure. Regarding to more effects of combinational intervention therapy based on behavioral methods rather than application of pharmacotherapy , it is expected that the use of these methods including massage is more effective in decreasing blood pressure. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental,based on pilot study, 90 hypertensive patients were chosen and their blood pressure and radial pulse were measured in 20 sessions during 5 weeks before and after back massage on Saturdays and Tuesdays and without massage on Sundays and Wednesdays . Data were collected by a demographic questionnaire and check list to record blood pressure and pulse, then these data were analyzed by STATA software. Results: The results showed that there was a decrease in the systolic and diastolic blood pressure and radial pulse by 6.3 and 3.9 mmHg and 2.9 beats per minute (p=0.0001). Conclusion: The results revealed that massage had decreasing effect on blood pressure and pulse of the primary hypertensive patients . Use of stress management interventions such as massage is an acceptable, simple and teachable method to families for better control of the disease.