Korean J Adult Nurs.  2016 Aug;28(4):436-446. 10.7475/kjan.2016.28.4.436.

Effects of the Auricular Acupressure on Pruritus and Fatigue in Hemodialysis Patients

• Chun Y
• Park S

• KMID: 2351407
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2016.28.4.436

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of auricular acupressure on pruritus and fatigue in hemodialysis patients.
METHODS
The study design was a randomized control group pre-post test. Initially, forty- four patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. There was a loss of three participants assigned to the treatment group. The period of data collection was from December 2014 to March 2015. Both groups completed a pre-test. The treatment group received auricular acupressure once a week for ten weeks. Data were collected from the treatment group at two time periods: five weeks and ten weeks following initiation of the treatment protocol. Data were collected from the control group at week 5 and week 10. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 program, specifically with the independent t-test and the Repeated Measures of ANOVA.
RESULTS
Auricular acupressure was effective in reducing pruritus (F=13.93, p<.001) and fatigue (F=18.33, p<.001).
CONCLUSION
Auricular acupressure is a non-invasive simple method that can be used for the relief of symptoms reported by hemodialysis patients. This treatment modality could be used in several clinical areas.

MeSH Terms

Acupressure*
Clinical Protocols
Data Collection
Ear
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Fatigue*
Humans
Methods
Pruritus*
Renal Dialysis*
Statistics as Topic

Figure

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  Figure 1 Study design.

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  Figure 2 Flowchart of the study.

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