Acupressure for Reducing Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Hematopoietic and Lymphatic System Neoplasm; Malignant Solid Neoplasm
• Interventions: Procedure: Acupressure Therapy; Other: Educational Intervention; Other: Electronic Health Record Review; Other: Questionnaire Administration

• Registration Number: NCT06322615
• Lead Sponsor: Mayo Clinic

Brief Summary

This clinical trial evaluates whether acupressure is helpful to reduce anxiety related to chemotherapy. Anxiety is experienced by many patients with cancer. Anxiety can be related to chemotherapy and may contribute to other symptoms, such as nausea and poor quality of life. Some patients diagnosed with cancer express interest in non-medicinal ways to manage symptoms. Acupressure is a noninvasive intervention that can be used for many different symptoms. Acupressure is well tolerated with minimal reports of adverse reactions, making it a good choice for patients with cancer. This study may help researchers learn whether acupressure is useful for managing anxiety in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Evaluate the feasibility of a nurse- and patient-applied acupressure intervention for patients with anxiety associated with active cancer-directed therapy.

II. Patient-reported changes in acute anxiety associated with both the nurse and self-led acupressure interventions will be ascertained.

OUTLINE:

Patients undergo acupressure over 15-120 seconds at a time for up to 15 minutes. After completion of the session, patients may optionally receive an education session on using acupressure at home.

After completion of study intervention, patients who opted to receive education about using acupressure at home are followed up at 1 week.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-08-08
• Study First Submitted: 2024-03-14
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-03-14
• Study First Posted: 2024-03-21
• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-11
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-13
• Primary Completion: 2025-12-31
• Study Completion: 2025-12-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 30

Inclusion Criteria

• Be over 18 years of age
• Be actively undergoing chemotherapy in the Mayo Clinic chemotherapy unit
• Report anxiety as a 1 or higher, on a scale from 0 (no anxiety) to 4 (severe anxiety)
• Be willing to undergo a short acupressure session

Exclusion Criteria

• Does not meet the inclusion criteria

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Supportive Care (acupressure)	Questionnaire Administration	Patients undergo acupressure over 15-120 seconds at a time for up to 15 minutes. After completion of the session, patients may optionally receive an education session on using acupressure at home.
Supportive Care (acupressure)	Acupressure Therapy	Patients undergo acupressure over 15-120 seconds at a time for up to 15 minutes. After completion of the session, patients may optionally receive an education session on using acupressure at home.
Supportive Care (acupressure)	Educational Intervention	Patients undergo acupressure over 15-120 seconds at a time for up to 15 minutes. After completion of the session, patients may optionally receive an education session on using acupressure at home.
Supportive Care (acupressure)	Electronic Health Record Review	Patients undergo acupressure over 15-120 seconds at a time for up to 15 minutes. After completion of the session, patients may optionally receive an education session on using acupressure at home.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Time taken for each nurse-led acupressure intervention in the chemotherapy unit (Feasibility)	Up to 1 year	Assess by the time recorded for ach nurse-led acupressure intervention in the chemotherapy unit.
Number of patients approached about undergoing acupressure intervention (Feasibility)	Up to 1 year	Assessed by the number of patients approached about undergoing acupressure intervention.
Patient-reported changes in acute anxiety	At baseline, after a one-time nurse-administered acupressure session, and after one week of self-administered acupressure sessions	Assessed with a brief anxiety questionnaire that inquires about the three different domains of anxiety: cognitive symptoms, emotional symptoms, and physical symptoms. Seven questions are answered using 11-point (0-10) scales with different values assigned to the scale per question (e.g. 0=no anxiety/10=worst possible anxiety or 0=strongly disagree/10=strongly agree).
Number of patients interested in the initial acupressure intervention in the chemotherapy unit (Feasibility)	Up to 1 year	Assessed by the number of patients who express interest in the initial acupressure intervention in the chemotherapy unit.
Number of patients interested in the home acupressure intervention (Feasibility)	Up to 1 year	Assessed by the number of patients who express interest in the home acupressure intervention.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Mayo Clinic in Rochester; 🇺🇸 Rochester, Minnesota, United States