Acupressure and Hand Massage for Reducing Anxiety During Dental Local Anesthetic Injections in Children

The Effectiveness of Acupressure and Hand Massage on Anxiety Levels in Children Undergoing Dental Anesthetic Injections

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT07779837

Enrollment

135

Registered

2026-08-21

Start date

2024-11-27

Completion date

2025-12-27

Last updated

2026-08-21

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

Conditions

Dental Anxiety, Fear

Keywords

dental anxiety, acupressure, hand massage, local anesthetic injection, children, venham picture test, heart rate

Brief summary

This study aims to compare the effects of acupressure ,hand massage , and routine behavioral management on anxiety in children undergoing dental local anesthetic injections . Anxiety will be evaluated using Venham Picture Test ( VPT ) and heart rate measurements at specified time points before , during and after the injection procedure .

Interventions

BEHAVIORALacupressure

Acupressure was applied before dental anesthetic injection to reduce anxiety in children in addition to routine tell-show-do behavioral guidance .

BEHAVIORALhand massage

Hand massage was performed before dental anesthetic injection to reduce anxiety in children in addition to routine tell-show-do behavioral guidance .

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

4 Years to 8 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* healthy child 4 years - 8 years No previous dental experience the treatment requires injections

Exclusion criteria

* Has previous dental experience any medical disease skin disease of hands or ears

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in Anxiety Levels Assessed Using the Venham Picture Test ( VPT )	5 minutes before injection , immediately after injection , and 2 minutes after injection .	Anxiety levels were assessed using the Venham Picture Test ( VPT ) , an six-item pictorial scale with scores ranging from 0 to 8 . Higher scores indicate greater anxiety .

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in Heart Rate During Dental Anesthetic Injections	5 minutes before injection , immediately after injection , and 2 minutes after injection	Heart rate was measured as a physiological indicator of anxiety in children undergoing dental anesthetic injections following acupressure , hand massage , or routine behavioral guidance .

Countries

Egypt

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Aug 22, 2026