The comparison of the effectiveness of acupressure and Iboprofen on primary dysmenorrheal

Not Applicable

Conditions: Primary dysmenorrhea.
Primary dysmenorrhoea

Registration Number: IRCT138901253706N1

Lead Sponsor: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences

Brief Summary: The effect of acupressure at the Sanyinjiao point (SP6) on primary dysmenorrhea in students resident in dormitories of Tabriz Sakineh Mohammad Alizadeh Charandabi*, Maryam Shabani Nashtaei**, Sedigheh Kamali***, Ramin Majlesi**** Abstract BACKGROUND: There are two types of primary dysmenorrhea (spasmodic and congestive) which differ from each other in terms of the occurrence time in menstrual cycle, pain quality and other symptoms. The present study aimed to determine the effect of acupressure at the Sanyinjiao point (SP-6) on severity of menstrual symptoms (primary outcome) and the duration of resting time as well as the number of ibuprofen consumption (secondary outcome) in the two types of primary dysmenorrhea. METHODS: This was a clustered randomized controlled trial on 72 eligible students residing in dormitories of public universities of Tabriz. Determining the type of primary dysmenorrhea using a Menstrual Symptoms Questionnaire (MSQ), 36 participants which suffered from each type of dysmenorrhea were enrolled from the four dormitories. The dormitories were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. No intervention was carried out at the first cycle. During the two next cycles, Sanyinjiao point of the subjects in the intervention group was pressed for twenty minutes at the time of pain. The subjects in both groups were allowed to consume ibuprofen, if needed. During these three cycles, the participants recorded and reported menstrual symptoms severity, duration of resting time and the number of the used ibuprofen. RESULTS: The severity of menstrual symptoms and duration of resting time in the 2nd and 3rd cycles were significantly reduced more than control groups for both spasmodic and congestive types of primary dysmenorrhea. In addition, the average numbers of ibuprofen pills taken by both intervention groups was significantly less than the control groups. There was no significant difference between the two intervention groups in terms of any of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Acupressure is effective on lowering the symptoms of dysmenorrhea and duration of resting time almost equally in both spasmodic and congestive types. Therefore, using this method either alone or along with other methods is recommended to treat dysmenorrhea. KEY WORDS: Dysmenorrhea, acupressure, complementary medicine, controlled randomized trial.

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Complete

Sex: Female

Target Recruitment: 72

Inclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: Single, age 18-22, Having regular menstrual cycle (mensturation length 3-8 days and length of menstrual cycle 21-35 days) and suffering from dysmenorrhea in previous two years, pain score more than 5 according to visual analogue scale (medium to severe dysmenorrhea), lack of known pelvic disease and known physical and mental diseases, Non consumption of oral contraceptive pills, Lack of pain throughout menstrual cycle or throughout menstrual bleeding, Lack of allergy to NSAIDs, lack of ulcer and inflammatory or skin disease around sp6 point.

Exclusion Criteria

Occurrence of Pelvic disease, pelvic and abdomen operations, high emotional stress (parents' divorce, relative death, etc).

Study & Design

Study Type: interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Symptom severity. Timepoint: for three months; first tow days of menstrual cycle in spasmodic dysmenorrhea, two days before menstrual bleeding in congestive dysmenorrhea. Method of measurement: Symptom Severity Scale (SSS).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Rest lenght. Timepoint: for three months; first tow days of menstural cycle in spasmodic dysmenorrhea, two days before menstural bleeding in congestivedysmenorrhea. Method of measurement: reported rest lenght (hour) by participant.