Investigating the impact of guided imagery on severity of restless leg syndrome in the elderly undergoing hemodialysis: A randomized controlled trial

Determining the effect of guided visualization on restless leg syndrome in the elderly undergoing hemodialysis in East Gilan

The study group includes 72 elderly hemodialysis suffers with restless leg syndrome who will be examined in two intervention and control groups(36 people each). Randomization will be done by permutation block method with block 4. By entering the Randomization.com and entering the size and number of blocks, a random allocation sequence will be generated.

72 older people (36 in each group) in hemodialysis centers of East Guilan hospitals will be participated. Intervention group will undergo guided imagery training using training CD for 4 weeks and 4 sessions per week. After four weeks, the restless leg syndrome questionnaire will be administered again. Double blinding will be done which will include participants and analysts to prevent any deviation from the true results.

Inclusion criteria:60 years old or older, ability to understand and speak Persian, informed consent , having restless leg syndrome with mild-moderate and severe severity, adequate mental and cognitive ability, lack of Existence of a known mental illness, a history of at least six months of hemodialysis, no obvious hearing disorders, no use of drugs affecting the patient's mental state, no use of other methods sedation and patients resistant to routine treatments during the study. ٍExclusion criteria: Lacking of inclusion criteria

"Intervention group": four weeks and four times per week will be guided visualization training using audio training CD. After four weeks and will complete the Restless Leg Syndrome questionnaire again. "Control group": will continue their routine treatments and guided visualization will not be performed on the their

Severity of restless leg syndrome

Randomization will be done by premutation block method with block size 4 and based on the generated sequence list, people will be assigned to 2 intervention and control groups.

Using random sequence sealed opaque envelopes (SNOSE). After determining the random sequence using the block method, based on the sample size of the research, a number of envelopes with aluminum wrappers (in order to the contents of the envelopes unclear) are prepared and each of the generated random sequences is recorded on a card and the cards inside the letter envelopes are placed in order. In order to maintain a random sequence, the outer surface of the envelopes is numbered in the same order. Finally, the lid of the letter envelopes is glued and placed in a box respectively. At the time of registration of the participants, based on the order of entry of eligible participants into the study, one of the envelopes will be opened and the assigned group of that participant will be revealed.