The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the effects of self-administered acupressure intervention for alleviating depressive symptoms among people with depression. It is hypothesized that the self-administered acupressure group would have a great improvement in depressive symptoms as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire compared with the mental health education group across the 12-week intervention period. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Is the self-administered acupressure intervention more effective for alleviating depression and other related outcomes compared to the mental health education group among depressed individuals? * Is the self-administered acupressure intervention acceptable and feasible for depressed individuals to alleviate depression? Participants will be randomized into self-administered acupressure group or mental health education group based on the group allocation with a 1:1 ratio. Participants will attend two weekly 120-min self-administered acupressure training or mental health education, respectively.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
250
Self-administered acupressure treatment group was developed on the basis of previous systematic reviews and clinical studies of acupuncture and acupressure for depression. It has robust theoretical basis of TCM. The acupoints selected are commonly used for depression according to a recent systematic review and recommended by other clinical practice guidelines.
Mental health education training group was developed based on the materials regarding depression and mental health from the Centre of Health Protection, Department of Health, the Government of Hong Kong SAR and reviewed by a clinical psychologist.
School of Nursing, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
RECRUITINGPatient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)
The PHQ-9, a self-rated questionnaire to assess depressive symptoms over the last 2 weeks on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day), with a total score ranging from 0 to 27.
Time frame: It will be measured at baseline
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)
The PHQ-9, a self-rated questionnaire to assess depressive symptoms over the last 2 weeks on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day), with a total score ranging from 0 to 27.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 4 from baseline
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)
The PHQ-9, a self-rated questionnaire to assess depressive symptoms over the last 2 weeks on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day), with a total score ranging from 0 to 27.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 8 from baseline
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)
The PHQ-9, a self-rated questionnaire to assess depressive symptoms over the last 2 weeks on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day), with a total score ranging from 0 to 27.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 12 from baseline
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)
The HDRS is used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms based on the 17-item scale. Eight items are scored on a 5-point scale, ranging from 0 to 4 and nine items are scored from 0 to 2. The total score varies from 0 (the minimum value) to 52 (the maximum value), with a higher total score indicating more severe depression.
Time frame: It will be measured at baseline
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)
The HDRS is used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms based on the 17-item scale. Eight items are scored on a 5-point scale, ranging from 0 to 4 and nine items are scored from 0 to 2. The total score varies from 0 (the minimum value) to 52 (the maximum value), with a higher total score indicating more severe depression.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 4 from baseline
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)
The HDRS is used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms based on the 17-item scale. Eight items are scored on a 5-point scale, ranging from 0 to 4 and nine items are scored from 0 to 2. The total score varies from 0 (the minimum value) to 52 (the maximum value), with a higher total score indicating more severe depression.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 8 from baseline
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)
The HDRS is used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms based on the 17-item scale. Eight items are scored on a 5-point scale, ranging from 0 to 4 and nine items are scored from 0 to 2. The total score varies from 0 (the minimum value) to 52 (the maximum value), with a higher total score indicating more severe depression.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 12 from baseline
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - Stress
The DASS-21 Stress subscale will be used to measure the emotional states of stress using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always).
Time frame: It will be measured at baseline
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - Stress
The DASS-21 Stress subscale will be used to measure the emotional states of stress using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always).
Time frame: It will be measured at week 4 from baseline
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - Stress
The DASS-21 Stress subscale will be used to measure the emotional states of stress using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always).
Time frame: It will be measured at week 8 from baseline
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - Stress
The DASS-21 Stress subscale will be used to measure the emotional states of stress using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always).
Time frame: It will be measured at week 12 from baseline
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - Anxiety
The DASS-21 Anxiety subscale will be used to measure the emotional states of anxiety using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always).
Time frame: It will be measured at baseline
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - Anxiety
The DASS-21 Anxiety subscale will be used to measure the emotional states of anxiety using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always).
Time frame: It will be measured at week 4 from baseline
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - Anxiety
The DASS-21 Anxiety subscale will be used to measure the emotional states of anxiety using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always).
Time frame: It will be measured at week 8 from baseline
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - Anxiety
The DASS-21 Anxiety subscale will be used to measure the emotional states of anxiety using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always).
Time frame: It will be measured at week 12 from baseline
The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)
The ISI is a seven-item self-rating scale to assess the severity of insomnia, distress, and functional impairment associated with insomnia on a 5-point Likert scale.
Time frame: It will be measured at baseline
The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)
The ISI is a seven-item self-rating scale to assess the severity of insomnia, distress, and functional impairment associated with insomnia on a 5-point Likert scale.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 4 from baseline
The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)
The ISI is a seven-item self-rating scale to assess the severity of insomnia, distress, and functional impairment associated with insomnia on a 5-point Likert scale.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 8 from baseline
The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)
The ISI is a seven-item self-rating scale to assess the severity of insomnia, distress, and functional impairment associated with insomnia on a 5-point Likert scale.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 12 from baseline
The Short-Form (six-dimension) Health Survey (SF-6D)
The SF-6D covers six domains using a scale of 1 to 6 to evaluate participants' general health and quality of life.
Time frame: It will be measured at baseline
The Short-Form (six-dimension) Health Survey (SF-6D)
The SF-6D covers six domains using a scale of 1 to 6 to evaluate participants' general health and quality of life.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 4 from baseline
The Short-Form (six-dimension) Health Survey (SF-6D)
The SF-6D covers six domains using a scale of 1 to 6 to evaluate participants' general health and quality of life.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 8 from baseline
The Short-Form (six-dimension) Health Survey (SF-6D)
The SF-6D covers six domains using a scale of 1 to 6 to evaluate participants' general health and quality of life.
Time frame: It will be measured at week 12 from baseline
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