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The Journal of Nervous and Mental... Feb 2022
Topics: Acupressure; Acupuncture Points; Humans
PubMed: 35080519
DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001501 -
Explore (New York, N.Y.) 2019The most well known forms of "energy psychology" combine cognitive and exposure techniques with the stimulation of selected acupuncture points (acupoints) by tapping on... (Review)
Review
The most well known forms of "energy psychology" combine cognitive and exposure techniques with the stimulation of selected acupuncture points (acupoints) by tapping on them. Most clinicians who learn and utilize an acupoint tapping protocol integrate the approach within their existing clinical frameworks rather than using it as a stand-alone therapy. The method has been highly controversial, with its efficacy, purported speed, and explanatory models all questioned. Nonetheless, its utilization within clinical settings and as a self-help method has continued to expand since it was introduced more than three decades ago. This paper reviews the most salient criticisms of the method and presents research and empirically based theoretical constructs that address them. More than 100 peer-reviewed outcome studies-51 of which are randomized controlled trials-provide an evidential base for evaluating the claims and criticisms surrounding the approach. This review concludes that a growing body of evidence indicates that acupoint-based energy psychology protocols are rapid and effective in producing beneficial outcomes in the treatment of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and possibly other conditions. Mechanisms by which acupoint tapping might bring about these treatment outcomes are also proposed.
Topics: Acupressure; Acupuncture Points; Emotions; Humans; Mental Disorders; Physical Stimulation
PubMed: 30718189
DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2018.11.003 -
Alternative Therapies in Health and... Oct 2023Dementia is the cognitive decline of patients, who often exhibit behavioral and psychological symptoms, severely affecting their quality of life (QoL) and placing a... (Review)
Review
CONTEXT
Dementia is the cognitive decline of patients, who often exhibit behavioral and psychological symptoms, severely affecting their quality of life (QoL) and placing a heavy burden on caregivers. Studies have found that acupressure can have benefits for individuals with dementia.
OBJECTIVE
The review intended to critically analyze the currently available evidence on the use of acupressure as a nonpharmacological therapy for people with dementia, based on results from available clinical trials.
DESIGN
The research team performed an evidence-based review between March and June 2020, following a systematic search strategy, to find human clinical trials using acupressure as an intervention for dementia patients. For the search, the research team used major research databases-Pubmed, EBSCOhost, PsycInfo, ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL Plus.
SETTING
The study was conducted through remote collaboration coordinated through Charles Sturt University Bathurst campus in Australia.
PARTICIPANTS
The 12 clinical trials included 973 participants, with the pooled mean age being 81.10 ± 6.74 and 48.2% being males and 51.8% females.
INTERVENTION
The reviewed studies evaluated acupressure as an intervention for dementia patients.
OUTCOME MEASURES
The team synthesized the review results to examine the effects of acupressure on various outcome measures of interest for dementia.
RESULTS
Twelve clinical trials (N = 973), including eight randomized controlled studies, were included in the review. Participants were predominantly institutionalized residents, with moderate-to-severe dementia. Baihui (GV20), Shenmen (HT7), Fengchi (GB20), Neiguan (PC6), Sanyinjiao (SP6), and Yingtang (EX-HN3) were the most-used acupoints for intervention. The acupressure techniques varied greatly, with no standardized approach being used. The review found inconsistent evidence on the effectiveness of acupressure in reducing agitation and behavioral disturbances, but the treatment appears to improve the ease of care and reduce physical stress. Affixing acupressure devices on selected acupoints can potentially decrease psychiatric pain, anxiety, and depression. Long-term treatment (6 months) may improve cognitive function, the ability to perform the activities of daily living, and QoL of patients with mild-to-moderate dementia. The effect of acupressure on sleep disturbances remains unclear.
CONCLUSIONS
More high-quality research on acupressure is needed to fill the gaps in knowledge and inform better care for dementia patients in the future.
Topics: Male; Female; Humans; Quality of Life; Activities of Daily Living; Acupressure; Cognitive Dysfunction; Dementia
PubMed: 35427233
DOI: No ID Found -
MCN. the American Journal of Maternal...To assess the effects of acupressure on lactation. (Review)
Review
PURPOSE
To assess the effects of acupressure on lactation.
METHODS
A literature search was conducted via Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, and PubMed using keyword search terms acupuncture, Tuina and breastfeeding, human lactation or human milk and excluded auricular. Inclusion criteria were articles in English with no restriction on publication date. We included acupuncture as well as acupressure to ensure that relevant articles were not missed.
RESULTS
After duplicates were removed, our initial search yielded 217 articles. Using the PRISMA checklist (Liberati et al., 2009), six articles met inclusion criteria (five research studies, one case study). Preliminary evidence suggests acupressure offers a promising and inexpensive method of enhancing secretory activation following cesarean and vaginal term and late preterm births, specifically when performed at acupoints CV 17, ST 18, and SI 1.
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Human milk is the optimal source of infant nutrition. Concern of low milk supply is most often cited as the cause for early supplementation with formula as well as early cessation of breastfeeding. Acupressure may be helpful in improving milk supply in early postpartum, but more research on acupressure and lactation is warranted.
Topics: Acupressure; Acupuncture Therapy; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Lactation; Milk, Human; Pregnancy
PubMed: 36227074
DOI: 10.1097/NMC.0000000000000866 -
Asian Journal of Psychiatry Feb 2024Depression is a common mental disorder caused by the interaction of social, psychological, and biological factors. Treatments include psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Depression is a common mental disorder caused by the interaction of social, psychological, and biological factors. Treatments include psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and other therapies, but they have limitations. Particularly, the COVID-19 pandemic may have a negative impact on depressed people. Thus, developing more potential treatments for depression has currently been an urgent challenge. A growing number of studies have found that acupressure is effective in relieving the symptoms of depression. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupressure in people with depression. English (PubMed, CENTRAL, EMBASE, APA PsycINFO, and CINAHL) and Chinese databases (CBM, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP), ClinicalTrials.gov and Chinese Clinical Trial Registry were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on patients diagnosed with depression from study inception until March 31, 2023. Studies that compared acupressure with sham acupressure, conventional treatments (i.e., medication, usual care, etc.), and acupressure as an adjunct to conventional treatment for depression were included. The primary outcome was depression level measured using the Hamilton Depression Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale, or Geriatric Depression Scale. A total of 19 RCTs involving 1686 participants were included. The pooled results showed that acupressure exhibited a significant beneficial effect on reducing the severity of depression compared with sham acupressure and served as an adjunct to conventional treatment, although the evidence level was moderate. Thus, acupressure may be a potential treatment for depression.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Depression; Acupressure; Psychotherapy; Acupuncture Therapy; Psychotic Disorders
PubMed: 38171225
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2023.103884 -
Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian... Aug 2022Currently, acupressure is widely accepted as a non-pharmacological therapy for managing pain, nausea and vomiting, and mental health conditions. Since acupressure can be... (Review)
Review
Currently, acupressure is widely accepted as a non-pharmacological therapy for managing pain, nausea and vomiting, and mental health conditions. Since acupressure can be self-administered, clinicians and researchers' interest in information and communication technologies (ICTs) for disseminating acupressure to manage symptoms has increased. This mini review was conducted to examine clinical studies of acupressure using ICTs, with a particular focus on self-acupressure. Through a search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL, all studies of self-acupressure using ICTs published before December 31, 2021 were collected. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. More than half of the studies published since 2020 (4/7, 54.14%) were described as being related to COVID-19. As target conditions, musculoskeletal injuries or pain, cancer-related symptoms, dysmenorrhea, mental health issues, and obesity were considered. The most frequently used acupoints were LI4, LR3, and Shenmen. Moreover, smartphone applications were the most commonly used ICT method to support self-acupressure. In addition to the basic information of self-acupressure, other tools such as timers, reminders, and schedule checkers to facilitate its implementations have been incorporated into the smartphone applications. Recently, there have been some attempts to combine acupressure and ICTs. Although these studies mainly focus on musculoskeletal pain or injuries, recent studies related to mental health have emerged in relation to COVID-19. However, few studies have been conducted to date, making it difficult to fully grasp the trends in this field. Therefore, more studies are needed to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of combining self-acupressure and ICTs in more diverse clinical areas.
Topics: Female; Humans; Acupressure; COVID-19; Nausea; Vomiting; Communication
PubMed: 36521770
DOI: 10.51507/j.jams.2022.15.4.214 -
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management Jul 2023Acupressure is a popular nonpharmacological intervention that is increasingly proven to effectively alleviate symptoms in patients with cancer. However, the effects of... (Review)
Review
CONTEXT
Acupressure is a popular nonpharmacological intervention that is increasingly proven to effectively alleviate symptoms in patients with cancer. However, the effects of self-acupressure on cancer symptom management are less clear.
OBJECTIVES
This systematic review is the first to summarize the current experimental evidence on self-acupressure for symptom management in cancer patients.
METHODS
Eight electronic databases were searched for experimental studies that examined self-acupressure for cancer patients with symptoms and published in peer-reviewed English or Chinese journals. The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool and the JBI critical appraisal checklist for quasi-experimental studies. Data were extracted as predefined and synthesized narratively. The Template for Intervention Description and Replication checklist was used to report the intervention characteristics.
RESULTS
A total of 11 studies were included in this study, six as feasibility or pilot trials. The methodological quality of included studies was suboptimal. Substantial heterogeneity was observed in acupressure training, acupoint selection, intervention duration, dosage, and timing. Self-acupressure was only associated with reduced nausea and vomiting (P = 0.006 and P = 0.001).
CONCLUSION
The limited evidence from this review precludes the definitive conclusions on intervention effectiveness for cancer symptoms. Future research should consider developing the standard protocol for intervention delivery, improving the methodology of self-acupressure trials, and conducting large-scale research to advance the science of self-acupressure for cancer symptom management.
Topics: Humans; Acupressure; Vomiting; Nausea; Neoplasms; Acupuncture Therapy
PubMed: 36898639
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.03.002 -
Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian... Apr 2021Primary dysmenorrhea is defined as cramping pain in the lower abdomen with no pelvic diseases, and it has a high prevalence in many countries. Acupressure is a widely... (Review)
Review
Primary dysmenorrhea is defined as cramping pain in the lower abdomen with no pelvic diseases, and it has a high prevalence in many countries. Acupressure is a widely used complementary treatment method for primary dysmenorrhea. This review examined experimental studies to determine the effects of acupressure on primary dysmenorrhea using the databases PubMed, Google Scholar, and CINAHL with the keywords "Acupressure" and "Dysmenorrhea". There were 2227 records in the databases, and 330 articles were published between 1989 and March 2020. Experimental studies in the English language were reviewed according to the PRISMA guidelines. This review included 28 published studies that were assessed using the Jadad score for quality. The studies were categorized as studies of acupressure at the LR3 point (n = 4), at the SP6 point (n = 9), at auricular points (n = 5), at multiple points (n = 8), and with devices (n = 2). Moreover, studies of self-acupressure (n = 9) were identified. The studies demonstrated that acupressure could reduce menstrual symptoms, the severity and duration of menstrual pain, distress, and anxiety. Furthermore, it helped improve the quality of life and well-being of patients and provide psychological support and self-care. Acupressure is an inexpensive, easy-to-apply, and non-pharmacological treatment and is useful for reducing primary dysmenorrhea, and women can apply this method anywhere by themselves. However, high-quality randomized controlled trials with larger samples are necessary to establish the evidence for acupressure as an effective intervention.
Topics: Acupressure; Acupuncture Points; Dysmenorrhea; Female; Humans; Quality of Life; Research Design
PubMed: 35770538
DOI: 10.51507/j.jams.2021.14.2.33 -
Journal of Integrative and... Jan 2022The research aim was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the ability of acupressure to reduce anxiety. Randomized controlled trials were... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
The research aim was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the ability of acupressure to reduce anxiety. Randomized controlled trials were obtained through a search of electronic medical databases (four in English and one in Chinese) from inception to October 5, 2020. Two authors searched the databases, evaluated studies' methodological quality, and performed data extraction independently. The final studies for analysis were identified after discussion with the third author. We obtained 27 studies for our systematic review and meta-analysis. Eight studies had a low overall risk of bias, and 13 had some bias concerns with methodological quality. According to the results, acupressure significantly reduced patient anxiety (standardized mean difference = 1.152; 95% confidence interval: 0.847-1.459, < 0.001), and the study heterogeneity was high ( = 299.74, < 0.001, = 91.333%). Two studies reported acupressure-associated adverse events. We also performed a sensitivity analysis by omitting one outlier study, which had the largest effect size; however, high heterogeneity remained ( = 87.816%). A subgroup analysis revealed significant differences between participant types ( = 46.573, < 0.001), levels of methodological quality ( = 6.228, = 0.044), and massage equipment ( = 4.642, = 0.031). Our meta-analysis suggests that acupressure can alleviate anxiety. Acupressure was more effective for inpatients and preoperative patients when finger massage was applied. In individuals with anxiety and a stable hemodynamic status, acupressure could be a promising treatment option. However, the substantial heterogeneity across studies means that any inference from the results should be performed cautiously.
Topics: Acupressure; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Humans; Massage
PubMed: 35085025
DOI: 10.1089/jicm.2020.0256 -
Medicine Jun 2023Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disease that has a significant impact on daily activities and quality of life, for which there is often no... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disease that has a significant impact on daily activities and quality of life, for which there is often no satisfactory therapy. Complementary medicine, such as acupressure and hydrotherapy, is used to treat patients with RLS; however, the clinical evidence is unclear. This study aims to investigate the effects and feasibility of self-administered hydrotherapy and acupressure in patients with RLS.
METHODS
This is a randomized, controlled, open-label, exploratory, clinical study with 3 parallel arms, comparing both self-applied hydrotherapy (according to the German non-medical naturopath Sebastian Kneipp) and acupressure in addition to routine care in comparison to routine care alone (waiting list control) in patients with RLS. Fifty-one patients with at least moderate restless-legs syndrome will be randomized. Patients in the hydrotherapy group will be trained in the self-application of cold knee/lower leg affusions twice daily for 6 weeks. The acupressure group will be trained in the self-application of 6-point-acupressure therapy once daily for 6 weeks. Both interventions take approximately 20 minutes daily. The 6-week mandatory study intervention phase, which is in addition to the patient preexisting routine care treatment, is followed by a 6-week follow-up phase with optional interventions. The waitlist group will not receive any study intervention in addition to their routine care before the end of week 12. Outcome parameters including RLS-severity, disease and health-related quality of life (RLS-QoL, SF-12), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score in German version, general self-efficacy scale, and study intervention safety will be measured at baseline and after 6 and 12 weeks. The statistical analyses will be descriptive and exploratory.
CONCLUSION
In the case of clinically relevant therapeutic effects, feasibility, and therapeutic safety, the results will be the basis for planning a future confirmatory randomized trial and for helping to develop further RLS self-treatment concepts.
Topics: Humans; Restless Legs Syndrome; Acupressure; Quality of Life; Hydrotherapy; Leg
PubMed: 37390284
DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000034046