Effects of Acupressure on Nurses' Psychological Distress, Anxiety, Depression, Job Stress, Occupational Burnout, and Resilience
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 160
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Depressive Symptoms
Study Overview
Brief Summary
This measurement aims to understand the effect of self-acupressure on the Shenmen Point (神門) and (內關) points on the hand on emotional distress, anxiety, depression, stress, work fatigue and adaptability of clinical nurses. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Whether acupressure can reduce emotional distress, anxiety, depression, stress and work fatigue in nursing staff.
Participants will:
1. Enforcement measures:
- Acupressure group: Perform self-acupressure twice a day, each time for about 2 minutes, and record the acupressure records every day for 2 consecutive weeks.
- Original method group: followed the original self-coping method. 2. After the intervention began, participants completed study questionnaires weekly for two months.
Detailed Description
- Purpose of the Study:
The goal of this study is to understand emotional distress, anxiety, depression, stress, workplace fatigue, and resilience among clinical nurses, as well as the factors related to these conditions. Investigators also want to evaluate the effects of different coping methods-either by self-pressing specific acupuncture points (Shenmen and Neiguan on the hand) or using usual ways of managing stress and anxiety. 2. About the Acupressure Points:
• Shenmen Point (神門): Shenmen, located on the inner wrist, is a key point on the Heart Meridian. It's often used in traditional Chinese medicine to calm the mind, ease anxiety, help with sleep problems, headaches, and emotional fatigue.
• Neiguan Point (內關): Neiguan is located on the inner forearm. Pressing this point can help relieve stress, reduce bloating, calm palpitations, and improve sleep. It's often used when feeling tense or anxious.
• Usual Coping Methods: If participants are assigned to this group, participants will simply continue handling stress and anxiety the way you normally do. 3. Who Can Join the Study:
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 20 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •Clinical nurses aged 20 years or older from a designated medical center.
- •Nurses who score ≥3 on the emotional distress thermometer or ≥4 on the Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5) based on self-reported questionnaires.
- •Able and willing to complete the required study questionnaires during the 2-month study period.
Exclusion Criteria
- •Nurses who refuse to participate after being informed about the study or are unable to comply with the study protocol.
- •Nurses working in non-patient-care units (e.g., administrative departments or supply centers).
- •Pregnant nurses.
Arms & Interventions
Control group
Care continued in the original manner without any intervention.
Intervention group (Acupressure)
Participants perform self-acupressure on the Shenmen and Neiguan points twice daily for 2 weeks.
Intervention: Acupressure (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Depressive Symptoms
Time Frame: At baseline(weeks 0) and once weekly for 8 weeks(weeks 1-8)
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Taiwanese Depression Scale, which has demonstrated strong psychometric properties in Taiwanese populations. The TDS consists of 18 items rated on a 4-point Likert scale: 0 = none or seldom (less than one day per week), 1 = sometimes (one to two days per week), 2 = often (three to four days per week), and 3 = almost always (five to seven days per week). Total scores range from 0 to 54, with higher scores indicating greater severity of depressive symptoms. The results from Lee et al. (2000) demonstrated that the TDS had excellent reliability and validity. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.90, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.92. The TDS also showed good concurrent validity, with a sensitivity of 0.89 and specificity of 0.92 at a cutoff score of 19. In the present study, the TDS demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of .94.
Psychological Distress
Time Frame: At baseline(weeks 0) and once weekly for 8 weeks(weeks 1-8)
Psychological distress was measured using the Brief Symptom Rating Scale-5 (BSRS-5), a validated screening tool for general psychological distress. The BSRS-5 assesses the subjective severity of the following symptoms: (1) anxiety, (2) depression, (3) hostility, (4) low self-esteem, and (5) insomnia. Each symptom was scored on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 4 ("extremely"), with a total score ranging from 0 to 20 points. Higher scores indicate more severe psychological distress. Studies have shown that a total score of 3-4 is the optimal threshold for identifying clinically relevant distress based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The BSRS-5 showed high accuracy (AUC = 0.92) and good sensitivity (0.83) and specificity (0.86). Therefore, this study used a BSRS-5 total score ≥4 as one of the inclusion criteria to ensure that participants with at least mild psychological distress were included in the study.
Secondary Outcomes
- Resilience(At baseline(weeks 0) and once weekly for 8 weeks(weeks 1-8))
- Anxiety(At baseline(weeks 0) and once weekly for 8 weeks(weeks 1-8))
- Job Stress(At baseline(weeks 0) and once weekly for 8 weeks(weeks 1-8))
- Occupational Burnout(At baseline(weeks 0) and once weekly for 8 weeks(weeks 1-8))
- Emotional Distress(At baseline(weeks 0) and once weekly for 8 weeks(weeks 1-8))
Investigators
Li-Ying Lin
Nursing Supervisor
Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital.