Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Nursing and Midwifery Amol, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
  • 2 Taylor's Business School, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
  • 3 Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • 4 Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 5 Student Research Committee, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
  • 6 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran
Int J Nurs Pract, 2017 Apr;23(2).
PMID: 28058748 DOI: 10.1111/ijn.12513

Abstract

Nonpharmacological methods of pain relief such as acupressure are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Practitioners often claim that such methods are highly effective and less invasive than analgesic drugs, but available empirical evidence is largely inconclusive. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that, postacupressure intervention, the amount of pain experienced by sampled leukemia patients, who received acupressure in addition to standard care, will reduce substantially compared to patients who received only routine treatment. This controlled trial was undertaken with hospitalized leukemia patients between February and June 2015. Our primary sample consisted of 100 participants who were randomly allocated to 2 groups. One (intervention) group underwent 12 acupressure sessions in addition to standard treatment while the control group received no intervention apart from being given the standard treatment for leukemia. The visual analogue scale was used to measure the levels of pain experienced. No significant differences were found between the 2 groups across 12 interventions. However, each group reported significantly different pain level changes before and after each intervention, suggested that the acupressure method was effective in reducing pain in the short term. Nurses are able to apply this complementary therapy alongside other procedures to manage these patients' pain. It is recommended that further studies be conducted to better understand the specific conditions under which acupressure can provide effective pain relief.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.