Effectiveness of Calf Muscle Stretching Exercise on leg Cramps among Antenatal Mothers Attending a Tertiary Care Centre Thiruvananthapuram

Abstract

Background: Leg cramps during pregnancy is a common discomfort characterized by involuntary,
painful contraction of muscle groups that usually occur in the calf or small muscles of the foot but can
affect different part of the leg. The severity of the leg cramp pain is variable and each attack may take
few minutes. 1 The prevalence of leg cramps occurred among 30% to 50% of pregnant women. Leg
cramping means painful spasm especially in the lower extremities occurs during pregnancy and
mainly occurred in the second half of pregnancy typically occurs at night and usually lasts for a few
seconds or 2 minutes. 2
Materials and Methods:The objective of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of calf
muscle stretching exercise on leg cramps among antenatal mothers. The research approach adopted

for the study was quantitative approach and the research design was quasi experimental pre-test post-
test control group design. Sample size was 80 and the samples who satisfied the inclusion and
exclusion criteria were selected consecutively. Informed consent was obtained from those participants
who were willing to participate in the study. The investigator collected socio demographic data,
clinical data and history of leg cramps by a self- prepared semi structured questionnaire and intensity
of leg cramps was assessed using numeric pain rating scale. The investigator demonstrated the
stretching exercise and provided with a diary to note down the intensity, duration and frequency of leg
cramps and the post-test was conducted after two weeks.
Results: The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 and description of participants based
on socio demographic data, clinical data and history of leg cramps were analyzed using percentage
and frequencies and the effectiveness of calf muscle stretching exercise on frequency and duration of
leg cramps among experimental and control group was analyzed using chi-square test and the
calculated p value was <0.05, it was concluded that calf muscle stretching exercise was effective in
reducing frequency and duration of leg cramps among experimental group also the effectiveness of
calf muscle stretching exercise on intensity of leg cramps was analyzed by independent t-test. It was
found that the mean difference in NPRS score in the experimental was 2.03±0.66 and in the control
group was 0.35±1.14 and the calculated p value was <0.05.
Conclusion: calf muscle stretching exercise is effective in reducing intensity of leg cramps among
antenatal mothers.