The effect of rhythmic movements on anxiety and fatigue of children with leukemia – a quasi-experimental study

Background: Anxiety and fatigue disorder is one of the most common psychological distress disorders among children and adolescents with cancer.Anxiety and fatigue can be managed with sedatives and corticosteroids, but side effects include dizziness, drowsiness, and impaired thinking and judgment.Therefore, this study examined the effect of rhythmic movements on the anxiety and fatigue of children with leukemia.Materials and methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted on 7-12-year-old children admitted to the hematology department of Ali Bin Abitaleb Hospital in Zahedan, Iran, which were selected based on random sampling divided into intervention and control groups in 2023.Questionnaires of demographic information, anxiety and fatigue were completed in two stages pre-test and post-test for both groups.Then the data were analyzed by SPSS22 software.A significance level of less than 0.05 was considered.Results: The mean and standard deviation of fatigue and anxiety scores of children in both intervention and control groups were not significantly different before performing rhythmic movements (P < 0.05), but there was a significant difference after performing rhythmic movements (P = 0.001).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that rhythmic movements as an adjunctive therapy can be used to improve the quality of life and mental health of children with cancer and their families.In addition, the main goal is to improve the patient's general condition and help the patient achieve a better life.However, more research is needed to evaluate and investigate the complexity of the impact of rhythmic movements on mental health in children with leukemia.