Zhang, B., Dong, J.N., Sun, P., Feng, C., & Liu, Y.C. (2017). Effect of therapeutic care for treating fatigue in patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. Medicine, 96, e7750.
The purpose was to evaluate the effect of therapeutic care (TC) with acupressure on fatigue in patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy.
Patients were randomized to the intervention or sham control arm. The intervention consisted of acupressure to three points related to energy in the human body (bilateral Hegu, Zusanli, & Sanyinjiao) administered 30 minutes per day, 10 minutes per point, 3 days a week for 12 weeks. Sham control included three points reported to have no relationship to alleviate cancer-related fatigue, first metacarpal head, patella, and inner ankle with same treatment administration, frequency, and duration. Fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep were measured at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks.
PHASE OF CARE: Active antitumor treatment
Randomized control trial
Multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
For those in the intervention group, fatigue improved statistically (p < 0.01) at 6 weeks and maintained improvement at 12 weeks (p < 0.01). Anxiety, depression, and sleep quality improved at 12 weeks (p < 0.01).
Acupressure may be an effective method or type of complementary and alternative therapy in improving fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep in patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy.
Acupressure focused on points known to help energy may be useful in treating cancer-related fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep quality.