Using Chromopressure to Reduce Fatigue among Women Workers in the Indonesian Food Industry: A Quasi-experimental Study

Abstract

Fatigue is a symptom of tiredness that is related to an exertion of body metabolism. This complaint is the most challenging problem experienced by food industry workers in Indonesia. Therefore, a specific intervention preventing the long-term effect of fatigue is needed in this population. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the initial use of chromopressure to reduce fatigue among food industry women workers. Chromopressure is a combination of chromotherapy and acupressure. Chromotherapy is a visible spectrum or colors of electromagnetic radiation to cure diseases. This is the first known study to examine the effect of chromopressure on fatigue. Three food industries were selected in the study. A total of 59 participants were recruited by using purposive and quota sampling. The intervention group (n = 30) received chromopressure for 30 minutes and usual care, but the control group (n = 29) only received usual care. Instruments used to collect the data were UNIMMA Work Fatigue Instrument, Nordic Body Map, and blood cortisol measurement. Descriptive statistics and independent t-test were applied for data analysis. The significance level of 0.05 was considered for hypothesis testing. The findings confirmed that chromopressure combined with usual care is more effective in reducing fatigue than the usual care. Furthermore, the participants felt comfortable when they received the intervention during the study. This therapy may help the nurses working in the community in terms of fatigue intervention, however further testing of the chromopressure instrument is required. This is a limited product, and the role of government and the health industry is essential to increase the testing, production and distribution in the worker population.