The Effect of Acupressure on Menopausal Symptoms

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

Detailed Description
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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.

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

Conditions
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Menopause, Acupressure

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: acupressure
* Behavioral: Sham acupressure


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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.
Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Acupressure group<br>Before the acupressure application, the woman to be applied was informed in a quiet room for ease of application, and then she was ensured to be in a comfortable position. Women were taught to practice on a total of two points, the kidney meridian (Yong Quan-KD1) and the spleen meridian (Sanyinjiao-SP6). Since the symmetry of the selected two different points on the other extremity will also be applied, a total of 8 minutes of compression was applied to each point, provided that it was two minutes. Depending on the preparation and compression time on each point, an average of 10 minutes was applied to each patient, and then the patients 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. To remind the session day, information was given by the researcher via short message. | Behavioral: acupressure<br>* 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.<br>|
| Sham Comparator: Sham acupressure group<br>After all the preparations (suitability of sound and environment and information) before the application to the acupressure group were made in the sham group, the sham acupressure points determined parallel to the KD1 and SP6 points (approximately 1-1.5 cm away) were put on the bone area where the meridians do not pass has been applied. Similar to the acupressure group, the sham acupresuure group was treated with symmetrical extremities and for similar durations. | Behavioral: Sham acupressure<br>* 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<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. | Change from before implementation, 0th week and 4th week of practice | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Menopause, Acupressure, Menopausal symptoms