Purpose
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of hand acupressure on sleep quality and pruritus in patients on hemodialysis and to propose an effective, evidence-based nursing intervention. Methods: This was a single-blind, placebo-controlled, group comparison study with 40 participants. The intervention was conducted thrice a week for six weeks, and the intervention group (n=20) received hand acupressure on sleep and pruritusrelated acupoints (A1, A3, A8, A12, A16, C5, C8, I2, E8, N5, G11, K9, B19, J2, J5, N9) by attaching Seoambong and pressing with Seoamchimbong. The placebo-controlled group (n=20) received hand acupressure on sites irrelevant to sleep or pruritus in the same way as the intervention group. Data were collected before and six weeks after the intervention. Results: There were significant inter-group differences in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, number of awakenings, and subjective pruritus. However, there were no significant inter-group differences in time of awakenings. Conclusion: Hand acupressure was found to be an effective nursing intervention to improve sleep quality and reduce pruritus in patients on hemodialysis.

Citations

• Effects of hand-press pellet on pain and daily life of elders with chronic lower back pain: randomized controlled trial
  Hyojung Park, Hyejin Lee
  BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of auricular acupressure on pruritus and fatigue in hemodialysis patients.
METHODS
The study design was a randomized control group pre-post test. Initially, forty- four patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. There was a loss of three participants assigned to the treatment group. The period of data collection was from December 2014 to March 2015. Both groups completed a pre-test. The treatment group received auricular acupressure once a week for ten weeks. Data were collected from the treatment group at two time periods: five weeks and ten weeks following initiation of the treatment protocol. Data were collected from the control group at week 5 and week 10. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 program, specifically with the independent t-test and the Repeated Measures of ANOVA.
RESULTS
Auricular acupressure was effective in reducing pruritus (F=13.93, p<.001) and fatigue (F=18.33, p<.001).
CONCLUSION
Auricular acupressure is a non-invasive simple method that can be used for the relief of symptoms reported by hemodialysis patients. This treatment modality could be used in several clinical areas.

Citations

• Effects of Auricular Acupressure on Nurses’ Perceived Stress, Sleep Quality, and Presenteeism
  Hyunseo Sim, Younghee Park
  Holistic Nursing Practice.2025; 39(1): 15.     CrossRef
• Hemodiyaliz Hastalarının Semptom Yönetiminde Aurikuloterapi Kullanımı: Geleneksel Derleme
  Mehmet Aytemur, Özlem Ceyhan, Sultan Taşci
  Mersin Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Lokman Hekim Tıp Tarihi ve Folklorik Tıp Dergisi.2025; 15(2): 451.     CrossRef
• Effectiveness of Acupressure for Fatigue Alleviation in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
  Kai-Mei CHANG, Debby Syahru ROMADLON, Pin-Yuan CHEN, Faizul HASAN, Shu-Liu GUO, Hsiao-Yean CHIU
  Journal of Nursing Research.2024; 32(3): e334.     CrossRef
• The Effects of Auricular Acupressure on Pruritus, Skin Dryness, and Depression in Hemodialysis Patients
  Eunyoung Choi, Kyungsook Park
  Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing.2024; 31(1): 69.     CrossRef
• Effect of auricular acupressure on postpartum blues: A randomized sham controlled trial
  Zainab Alimoradi, Somayeh Asgari, Sanaz Barghamadi, Hamideh Hajnasiri, Terry Oleson, Mark D. Griffiths
  Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.2023; 52: 101762.     CrossRef
• Effects of an arteriovenous fistula stenosis prevention program in patients receiving hemodialysis
  Haegyeong Lee, Gyuli Baek, Eunju Lee
  Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives.2023; 14(4): 279.     CrossRef
• Effects of Hand Acupressure on Sleep Quality and Pruritus in Patients on Hemodialysis
  Yeo Ju Kim, Hyojung Park
  Korean Journal of Adult Nursing.2020; 32(6): 610.     CrossRef
• Effect of Auricular Acupressure on Sleep and Pruritus in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis
  Yun Yi Bang, Hyojung Park
  Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing.2020; 27(2): 141.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
This study was to examine the effects of aroma hand massage on pruritus, fatigue and stress of the patients undergoing hemodialysis.
METHODS
This study was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Study sample was conveniently recruited from two hospitals(28 for experimental and 30 for control group). The experimental group went through aroma hand massage on hand without AVF for 5 min for 12 times mixed with Lavender, Chamomile and Geranium oils in the ratio of 4 : 4 : 2, which was diluted 3% with sweet almond crrier oil 100 ml. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 12.0.
RESULTS
The 1st hypothesis, 'Experimental group who has received aroma hand massage will have lower rate of pruritus than the control group' was accepted(t = -5.084, p = .001). The 2nd hypothesis, 'Experimental group who has received aroma hand massage will have lower rate of fatigue than the control group' was accepted(t = -2.557, p = .015). The 3rd hypothesis, 'Experimental group who has received aroma hand massage will have lower rate of stress than the control group' was accepted(t = -5.537, p = .001).
CONCLUSION
The aroma hand massage has shown to be an effective nursing intervention to reduce the pruritus, fatigue and stress among patients undergoing hemodialysis. Therefore, the massage is needed to continuously be applied to hemodialysis patients to improve their quality of life.