The Effect of Acupressure on Menopausal Symptoms

This is a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled and single-blind study planned to determine the effect of acupressure application on menopausal symptoms.

The hypothesis of the study is that acupressure reduces women's menopausal symptoms.

Completed

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Key information

Conditions

Menopause Acupressure

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Mersin University

Mersin, Turkey (Türkiye)

About this study

Menopause is a physiological process during which most women have difficulties and face many problems. Acupressure can be taught and used safely as an effective method to manage the symptoms that women experience during menopause.

This study aims to determine the effect of acupressure on menopausal symptoms. The study has a prospective, randomized, sham-controlled, single-blind design. The research was conducted with 81 women (acupressure n=40, sham acupressure n=41) attending the "Menopause School" in a public hospital in Türkiye between July 05, 2021 and August 02, 2021. Both groups received acupressure application thrice a week for four weeks, 12 sessions in total. The data was obtained using a personal information form and a Menopause Rating Scale.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Able to speak and understand Turkish
No psychiatric illness
Natural menopause
Not on hormone replacement therapy
Women who volunteered to participate in the study and did not receive any integrated therapy were included.

Exclusion criteria

Those who have undergone menopause with the surgical method
For lower extremity vascular disease, fracture, sprain or injury, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, thyroid disease, etc. with a diagnosis
Women who received any integrative therapy were not included in the study.

Treatment and study plan

acupressure

Behavioral

Depending on the preparation and compression time on each point, an average of 10 minutes was applied to each woman, and then the person were asked to apply it to themselves. After making sure that the women learned, they were asked to apply acupressure on their own. They applied a total of 12 sessions, three times a week for a total of four weeks.

Sham acupressure

Behavioral

Compression was applied on the bone region where the meridians did not pass, parallel to the KD1 and SP6 points (approximately 1-1.5 cm away). Similar to the acupressure group, the sham group was treated with symmetrical extremities and for similar durati

Primary outcomes

Menopause Rating Scale (MRS)

Time frame: Change from before implementation, 0th week and 4th week of practice

Menopause symptom rating scale was used to evaluate menopausal symptoms. The Turkish reliability and validity study was conducted by Can (2005). The scale consists of 11 items and 3 sub-dimensions. For each item, there are "0=None", "1=Mild", "2=Moderate", "3=Severe" and "4=Very Severe" options. Sub-dimensions of the scale; somatic complaints (items 1,2,3 and 11), psychological complaints (items 4,5,6 and 7), and urogenital complaints (items 8,9 and 10). The total score of the scale ranges from 0 to 44. The somatic complaints sub-dimension is scored between 0-16, the psychological complaints sub-dimension 0-16, and the urogenital complaints sub-dimension 0-12. An increase in the total score obtained from the scale indicates that the severity of the complaints increases and the quality of life is negatively affected.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Mersin University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

The Effect of Acupressure on Menopausal Symptoms: A Randomized, Sham Controlled Study

Important dates

Study start: 2021
Primary completion: 2021
Study completion: 2022
First posted: Aug 29, 2023
Registry last updated: Aug 29, 2023

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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Completed