• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.237-245
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• 2002

Purpose: This study was to examine the changes in cold discomfort according to the type of blanket used after surgery. Methods : Women scheduled for Cesarean Section were divided into two groups. After the surgery, 30 patients were covered with a warming blanket which was set at $40^{\circ}C$ by the warmer and the other 30 patients were covered with an ordinary blanket. Both group's cold discomfort was measured at 5 time points using a mercury thermometer, shivering scale. and subjective thermal sensation scale. Data were analyzed by using mean scores with t-test, paired t-test using the SPSS/WIN program. Result: At 30 min after being covered with the blanket, the axillary temperature had returned to the pre-operation temperature in both groups. At 45 min after being covered with the blanket, the women in the warming blanket group had no further shivering but for those in the ordinary blanket group shivering continued. At 45 min after being covered with the blanket, the women in the warming blanket group had returned to the condition before surgery, but those in the ordinary blanket group continued to complain of cold sensation. Conclusion: This study suggests that use of a warming blanket helps to relieve cold discomfort following surgery. This study is also expected to enhance understanding of the Importance of subjective data by exploring the difference between subjective complaints and objective data about cold discomfort.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.16-29
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a warmed blanket on relieving the cold discomfort after Cesarean Section delivery. A nonequivalent control group pre-test/post-test design was used for this quasi-experimental study. Sixty women were recruited for this study and divided by two groups: experimental and control groups. Blankets warmed to $40^{\circ}C$ were applied to the women in the experimental group for one hour and unwarmed blankets were applied to the control group. Using Abbey's shivering scales, subjective thermal sensation score, and Celsius mercury thermometer, cold discomfort was measured at four time points: 1) baseline measure (at the point the blanket was applied) 2) 15 min. later, 3) 30 min. later, and 4) 45 min. after application. Data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN and t-test and MANOVA were used to examine the effects of the warmed blanket for relieving cold discomfort. The results of the study are as follows. The experimental group had less cold discomfort than the control group(Wilts's value =0.580, p=0.000) at the 45 minute point after blanket application. the Experimental group reported less shivering and subjective thermal sensation than the control group. Shivering scores showed significant differences between the two groups at each of the four time points (baseline, 15 min., 30 min., and 45 min.) and subjective thermal sensation score showed significant differences between two groups at 45 minutes. after blanket application. In conclusion, the application of a warmed blanket was more effective on shivering and subjective thermal sensation than body temperature measured by objective means. Because women in this study were in the normal range of body temperature, differences in the objective body temperature between the two groups may not be sensitive enough to be detected. Even though differences in objective body temperature were not found, reduced subjective discomfort for low body temperature may be a sufficient significant finding in for nurse clinicians to utilize this method on their practice. Further studies in this area are needed to support these findings.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.68-78
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cold oral gargling on oral discomfort among Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patient undergoing chemotherapy. Method: An quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group design was used. Thirty two patients receiving chemotherapy at G hospital in P city were recruited from August 1, 2002 to October 20, 2002. Sixteen were conveniently allocated into the experimental group and 16 into the control group. Participants in the experimental group used cold oral gargling while their counterparts used room temperature oral gargling. Subjective and objective oral discomforts were measured by the instruments developed by Beck. The SPSS WIN 10.0 program was used to analyze the data with t-test, ${\chi}^2$ -test, and repeated measures ANOVA. Findings: The participants in the experimental group reported less oral discomfort and showed better oral conditions than those in the control group at the post 7th, 14th, and 21st days. Participants in the experimental group reported better oral conditions in taste, tongue, eating, and saliva than those in the control group. Conclusion: The cold oral gargling seemed to be more beneficial than room-temperature oral gargling in reducing oral discomfort for the Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients undergoing chemotherapy.