Kim Bomi, Park Hyojung
College of Nursing, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
J Midwifery Womens Health. 2024 Jan-Feb;69(1):41-51. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.13554. Epub 2023 Aug 7.
Middle-aged women in the postmenopausal period experience menopause symptoms, stress, and poor sleep quality due to hormonal changes. Nonetheless, most of them recognize such symptoms as an aging process without receiving proper treatment, and there are few nonpharmacologic interventions available.
This was a randomized single-masked, sham-controlled trial. For the intervention group, a vaccaria seed was applied to the auricular points of Shenmen, anterior lobe, adrenal glands, central rim, and endocrine that are related to the menopause symptoms, stress, and sleep while applying a seed to the auricular points not related to the forementioned symptoms to the control group. The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), heart rate variability, and electroencephalogram (EEG) were measured before the intervention, 4 weeks after the intervention, and 8 weeks after the intervention. Actigraphy was measured with a Fitbit, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was measured before and after the intervention. The study was registered with the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (KCT0007364).
The MRS showed significant differences over time in the intervention group (F, 22.057; P < .001). There was a significant difference over time in the PSS (F, 22.576; P < .001), stress index measured by heart rate variability (F, 14.027; P = .001), and antistress quotient of the right brain measured by EEG (F, 4.865; P = .033). Sleep quality, measured by the PSQI (t = -4.050, P < .001), and sleep efficiency measured by actigraphy (t = 5.996, P < .001) were found to be significantly different over time in the intervention group.
This study demonstrated that auricular acupressure is effective in improving menopause symptoms, stress, and sleep in postmenopausal middle-aged women. Therefore, auricular acupressure may be a useful nonpharmacologic intervention for alleviating these symptoms in this population.
绝经后中年女性由于激素变化会经历更年期症状、压力和睡眠质量差等问题。尽管如此，她们中的大多数人将这些症状视为衰老过程而未接受适当治疗，并且几乎没有非药物干预措施。
这是一项随机单盲、假对照试验。对于干预组，将王不留行籽贴于耳穴神门、前叶、肾上腺、中央缘和内分泌区，这些穴位与更年期症状、压力和睡眠相关，而对照组则将籽贴于耳穴那些与上述症状无关的穴位。在干预前、干预后4周和干预后8周测量更年期评定量表（MRS）、感知压力量表（PSS）、心率变异性和脑电图（EEG）。使用Fitbit测量活动记录仪，在干预前后测量匹兹堡睡眠质量指数（PSQI）。该研究已在世界卫生组织国际临床试验注册平台注册（KCT0007364）。
干预组的MRS随时间有显著差异（F = 22.057；P <.001）。PSS随时间有显著差异（F = 22.576；P <.001），心率变异性测量的压力指数（F = 14.027；P =.001）以及脑电图测量的右脑抗应激商数（F = 4.865；P =.033）。干预组中，PSQI测量的睡眠质量（t = -4.050，P <.001）和活动记录仪测量的睡眠效率（t = 5.996，P <.001）随时间有显著差异。
本研究表明耳穴按压对改善绝经后中年女性的更年期症状、压力和睡眠有效。因此，耳穴按压可能是缓解该人群这些症状的一种有用的非药物干预措施。
