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Self-Administered Relaxing Acupressure to Reduce Fatigue in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors

A Pilot Study of Self-Administered Acupressure for Fatigue Among Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Survivors

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06442891
Enrollment
42
Registered
2024-06-04
Start date
2024-10-01
Completion date
2025-12-22
Last updated
2026-06-23

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 tests the feasibility of self-administered relaxing acupressure on fatigue in adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors. Acupressure, a type of complementary or alternative medicine, is the application of pressure or localized massage to specific sites on the body to control symptoms. Relaxing acupressure has been shown to improve cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in adults, however, less is known about the impact of relaxing acupressure on CRF in AYA cancer survivors."

Detailed description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. Determine the feasibility of implementing a randomized controlled trial of a six-week, self-administered relaxing acupressure intervention in AYA cancer survivors with clinically relevant CRF. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: I. Explore participants' perspectives of acceptability and satisfaction with the six-week acupressure interventions using semi-structured interviews. EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVE: I. Determine the preliminary efficacy of a six-week, virtual, self-administered relaxing acupressure intervention on clinically significant changes in CRF in post-treatment AYA cancer survivors. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms. ARM I: Patients receive access to an acupressure mobile application and self-administer relaxing acupressure to 9 acupoints over 27 minutes once daily (QD) for 6 weeks. ARM II: Patients receive access to an acupressure mobile application and self-administer sham acupressure to non-acupressure point locations over 27 minutes QD for 6 weeks. Enrollment was increased to 45.

Interventions

Self-administer relaxing acupressure

OTHERInternet-Based Intervention

Receive access to acupressure mobile app

OTHERInterview

Ancillary studies

OTHERQuestionnaire Administration

Ancillary studies

Sponsors

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Masking description

Patients are blinded to intervention.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
15 Years to 39 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* 15 - 39 years old * At least three months post cancer treatment (e.g., surgery, radiation or chemotherapy). Participants receiving maintenance hormonal or targeted therapies will be allowed to enroll as determined by the study investigator * Report clinically relevant fatigue in the past seven days (Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information Systems \[PROMIS\] Fatigue 4a scores ≥ 55) * Speak / read English * CRF started at or after the diagnosis of cancer * Completed cancer treatment within the past five years

Exclusion criteria

* Diagnosis of untreated anemia, mood disorder, or hypothyroidism * Plan to begin new pharmacological, psychological, or other treatments (i.e., physical therapy or dietary supplements) for CRF during the study. Although, participants may continue usual treatments for CRF if the treatments were initiated at least eight weeks prior to study enrollment, and the dose has not changed * Plan to become pregnant or lactating during the study period * Received acupressure or acupuncture in the past year

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Recruitment Rate1 yearSelf-administered acupressure implementation will be feasible if all participants are recruited over 2 years. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize recruitment rate.
Number of Participants With AdherenceAt 6 weeksSelf-administered acupressure implementation will be feasible if 60% of participants complete the baseline and 6-week patient-reported measures and if 60% of acupressure group participants self-report acupressure practice for at least 27 minutes on at least 3 days per week. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize adherence.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Fatiguebaseline, 6 weeks, and 10 weeks after starting treatmentMeasured using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information Systems Fatigue 4a questionnaire. Results are continuously scaled and appropriately analyzed by Gaussian-based statistical models. Change in fatigue will be analyzed using a Full Information Maximum Likelihood mixed-effects linear regression model. Specifically, change from baseline will be evaluated by including fixed-effects coefficients for time, treatment, and the important interaction effects that will determine whether changes from baseline are greater in the relaxing acupressure group, relative to controls. Random Y-intercepts in the model will be incorporated to accommodate the nesting of repeated observations within subject. Change in fatigue will be analyzed using a Full Information Maximum Likelihood mixed-effects linear regression model. Range score is 30-80 and increasing scores indicate worse symptoms.
Acceptability E - Scale6 weeks after starting treatmentInterview data will be analyzed using inductive content analysis. Perspectives of the intervention will be analyzed using inductive content analysis. (1 - 5, higher scores = greater acceptability) from the Acceptability E-Scale (Tariman et al., 2011) applies to all rows listed

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORRobert Knoerl

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic
Age, Continuous29.4 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 8
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
3 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
39 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
36 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
42 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
34 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
6 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 300 / 12
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 300 / 12
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 300 / 12

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 25, 2026