Hoang Huong Thi Xuan, Molassiotis Alex, Chan Choi Wan, Vu Anh Hoang, Bui Phuc Thanh
School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Rd, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Faculty of Nursing, Phenikaa University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Sleep Breath. 2022 Mar;26(1):445-456. doi: 10.1007/s11325-021-02370-8. Epub 2021 Apr 14.
Current evidence for using self-acupressure to manage the cancer-related symptom cluster of insomnia, depression, and anxiety, while promising, is unknown. This study evaluated the feasibility of self-acupressure to manage this symptom cluster and to explore its potential effectiveness.
Participants were assigned randomly to three study groups, namely the true acupressure (TAP), the sham acupressure (SAP), and the enhanced standard care group (ESC). Participants in the TAP and SAP groups received a training session on acupressure and were required to practice self-acupressure at home once per day for 28 days. The duration of participant involvement was 8 weeks. Patients completed a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) for each symptom, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2, week 4), and post follow-up (T3, week 8).
The results indicated that the intervention had clinical significance in improving the targeted symptoms and quality of life. In the TAP group, the symptom cluster severity was significantly lower than in the other groups at T2 (p < 0.05). The insomnia severity and anxiety scores in the TAP and SAP groups were significantly lower than those in ESC at T2 and T3 (p < 0.05).
The trial was feasible. The promising results of the study suggest that further testing of self-acupressure is warranted to inform its effectiveness on the targeted symptom cluster in patients with cancer. A placebo effect was evident alongside therapeutic effects.
ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03823456) on January 30th, 2019.
目前，使用自我穴位按压来管理失眠、抑郁和焦虑这一与癌症相关的症状群的证据虽然很有前景，但尚不明确。本研究评估了自我穴位按压管理该症状群的可行性，并探索其潜在效果。
参与者被随机分配到三个研究组，即真穴位按压组（TAP）、假穴位按压组（SAP）和强化标准护理组（ESC）。TAP组和SAP组的参与者接受了穴位按压培训，并被要求在家中每天进行一次自我穴位按压，持续28天。参与者参与的时长为8周。患者在基线（T1）、干预后（T2，第4周）和随访后（T3，第8周）完成了针对每种症状的数字评定量表（NRS）、失眠严重程度指数、医院焦虑抑郁量表以及癌症治疗功能评估通用版。
结果表明，该干预在改善目标症状和生活质量方面具有临床意义。在T2时，TAP组的症状群严重程度显著低于其他组（p < 0.05）。在T2和T3时，TAP组和SAP组的失眠严重程度和焦虑评分显著低于ESC组（p < 0.05）。
该试验是可行的。该研究取得的有前景的结果表明，有必要对自我穴位按压进行进一步测试，以了解其对癌症患者目标症状群的有效性。除治疗效果外，安慰剂效应也很明显。
2019年1月30日在ClinicalTrials.gov（标识符：NCT03823456）注册。
