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Acupressure for Reducing Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

Acupressure for Anxiety: A Pilot Study of a Nurse-Led Acupressure Intervention for Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06322615
Enrollment
30
Registered
2024-03-21
Start date
2023-08-08
Completion date
2024-02-01
Last updated
2025-10-29

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Hematopoietic and Lymphatic System Neoplasm, Malignant Solid Neoplasm

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.

Interventions

Undergo acupressure

OTHEREducational Intervention

Receive education session about using acupressure at home

OTHERElectronic Health Record Review

Ancillary studies

OTHERQuestionnaire Administration

Ancillary studies

Sponsors

Mayo Clinic
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

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

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Number of patients approached about undergoing acupressure intervention (Feasibility)Up to 1 yearAssessed by the number of patients approached about undergoing acupressure intervention.
Number of patients interested in the initial acupressure intervention in the chemotherapy unit (Feasibility)Up to 1 yearAssessed 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 yearAssessed by the number of patients who express interest in the home acupressure intervention.
Time taken for each nurse-led acupressure intervention in the chemotherapy unit (Feasibility)Up to 1 yearAssess by the time recorded for ach nurse-led acupressure intervention in the chemotherapy unit.
Patient-reported changes in acute anxietyAt baseline, after a one-time nurse-administered acupressure session, and after one week of self-administered acupressure sessionsAssessed 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).

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026