The Efficacy of Hot Footbath in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: An Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial

Maryam Azimi; Fatemeh Sadat Hasheminasab; Bahram Chooban; Nezhat Shakeri; Saeedeh Ghasemi; Azam Farokhi; Roshanak Mokaberinajad

doi:10.18502/tim.v7i3.10770

Maryam Azimi Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Fatemeh Sadat Hasheminasab Pharmacology Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
Bahram Chooban Shahid Mofateh Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
Nezhat Shakeri Shahid Mofateh Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
Saeedeh Ghasemi Shahid Mofateh Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
Azam Farokhi Shahid Mofateh Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
Roshanak Mokaberinajad Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tim.v7i3.10770

Keywords: COVID-19; Hot footbath; Traditional persian medicine; Complementary and alternative medicine; Integrative medicine

Abstract

COVID-19 spread rapidly around the world from the end of 2019. Hot footbath is a simple ancient technique, which has been used to alleviate many disorders. We aimed to investigate the effect of hot footbath in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. This open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted in Iran with allocation ratio of 1:1, with final sample size of 35 patients in each group. The intervention group received hot footbath (immersion of feet into the hot water at 42 °C, 10 cm above the ankles for 20 minutes, and then kept warm for 5 minutes) once a day for a week, in addition to the conventional therapy. The control group received only the conventional therapy; the primary outcomes evaluated were fever, respiratory rate, cough, fatigue, and myalgia; whereas admission rate, ICU admission, and mortality were assessed as the secondary outcomes. Except for cough intensity, cough frequency and fatigue (p value < 0.05), no significant differences were observed between the two groups in the primary and secondary outcomes. No adverse events were reported. Hot footbath can be used as a non-invasive, highly acceptable, and complementary technique to alleviate COVID-19 patients without any needs to expensive or special equipment; nevertheless, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed so as to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of hot footbath on clinical symptoms of COVID-19.