BACKGROUND: Anxiety is a common symptom experienced by patients with cancer, who are increasingly interested in non-pharmacologic symptom management. Acupressure, a noninvasive intervention thought to impact the neurohormonal axis, has shown promise in reducing anxiety. However, research on acupressure for anxiety in patients with cancer has been limited. METHODS: Individuals receiving chemotherapy, who reported baseline anxiety, were eligible for this study. Consenting participants received one 15-minute nurse-led acupressure session and completed pre- and post-intervention surveys. The primary endpoint was a change in anxiety. Participants were also asked about symptoms of nausea, pain, wellbeing, relaxation, worry, and distress. Participants were invited to learn self-acupressure techniques. These participants were asked to complete a final survey 1-week post-intervention. RESULTS: Thirty adult patients participated in this study. Mean baseline anxiety was 5on a 0 to 10 Likertscale. Immediate post-intervention anxiety scores significantly improved for all thirty patients to an average of 2.0 (P < 0.001). Mean nausea scores improved from 1.5 at baseline to 0 post-intervention (P < 0.001), pain scores improved from 2.0 at baseline to 1.0 post-intervention (P = 0.001). Participants reported significant improvement in sense of wellbeing (P = 0.0004), distress (P < 0.001), ability to achieve relaxation (p < 0.001) and ability to control their worries (P < 0.001). The improvement in anxiety, wellbeing and relaxation was sustained at one week. 100% of participants stated that they would recommend acupressure for symptom management. CONCLUSION: Acupressure is a promising non-pharmacologic intervention for the management of cancer-associated anxiety.
Rhee et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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