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.
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.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
81
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.
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
Mersin University
Mersin, Turkey (Türkiye)
Menopause Rating Scale (MRS)
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.
Time frame: Change from before implementation, 0th week and 4th week of practice
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