The Effects of Acupressure on Improving Health and Reducing Cost for Patients Undergoing Thoracoscopic Surgery

Hsing-Chi Hsu, Kai-Yu Tseng, Hsin-Yuan Fang, Tzu-Min Huang, Chi-Chung Kuo, Li-Li Chen and Wei-Fen Ma
Additional contact information
Hsing-Chi Hsu: Department of Nursing, Hungkuang University, Taichung 433304, Taiwan
Kai-Yu Tseng: Department of Nursing, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung 406053, Taiwan
Hsin-Yuan Fang: School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 406040, Taiwan
Tzu-Min Huang: Department of Surgery, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 406040, Taiwan
Chi-Chung Kuo: Department of Neurology, Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Taichung 427213, Taiwan
Li-Li Chen: School of Nursing, College of Health Care, China Medical University, Taichung 406040, Taiwan
Wei-Fen Ma: School of Nursing, College of Health Care, China Medical University, Taichung 406040, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: Objectives. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of practicing acupressure on the Shenmen and Neiguan acupoints with a view to reduce anxiety and improve the comfort and physical health of patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery. Methods. A total of 100 hospitalized patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery were assigned randomly into the experimental ( n = 49) and control groups ( n = 51). Subjects in the experimental group received routine care plus acupressure on the Shenmen and Neiguan acupoints, while those in the control group received regular routine care. The data were collected using demographic information, physical and surgical data, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)-A, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Y Form (STAI-Y1), and Shortened General Comfort Questionnaire scores. The linear mixed model was used to examine the influences of acupressure on VAS-A and STAI-Y1 scores at different time points before and after the surgery to observe group-by-time interactions. Results. The mean age of the subjects was 60.97 years. All subjects had mild-to-moderate anxiety after surgery and showed a statistically significant decline in regression coefficients on the first and second days after the intervention (β = −11.61, p = 0.002; β = −18.71, p < 0.001). Similarly, for STAI-YI scores, the data showed a significant difference in the pre-test and post-test interactions between the two groups (β = 4.72, p = 0.031). Conversely, acupressure did not have a statistically significant difference on comfort (F = 2.953, p = 0.057). Compared with the control subjects, the experimental subjects used less morphine and developed side effects less frequently ( p < 0.01). They were also able to get out of bed after surgery 163.79 min earlier ( p < 0.05). Conclusions. Acupressure is a simple and easy-to-practice treatment. Acupressure on the Shenmen and Neiguan acupoints reduces anxiety and improves recovery in patients after undergoing thoracoscopic surgery.

Keywords: acupressure; anxiety; comfort; cost-effective; physical health; thoracoscopic surgery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1869/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1869/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1869-:d:743913

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().