Self-administered Acupressure for Symptom Management of Caregiver Stress

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

207 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2016-07-31

Study Completion Date

2018-12-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

This proposed study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-administered acupressure intervention on caregiver stress and associated distress symptoms of fatigue, insomnia and depression in Chinese family caregivers of an elderly family member.

Related Clinical Trials

Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.

Acupressure for Fatigue and Low Back Pain

NCT02106741

Fatigue Chronic Low Back Pain

COMPLETED NA

The Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Complications in Critically Ill Patients

NCT04950738

Delirium Agitation Arrhythmia +2 more

UNKNOWN NA

Combining Acupuncture and Acupressure for Dementia Elderly

NCT04305951

Dementia

COMPLETED NA

The Efficacy of Acupressure Therapy on Patient With Depression

NCT05423405

Depressive Disorder Depressive Disorder, Major Depressive Symptoms

UNKNOWN NA

Acupuncture in Postoperative Pain Control for Minimal Invasive Thoracoscopic Surgery Patients

NCT02959346

Acupuncture Pain Control Randomized Controlled Trial +1 more

UNKNOWN NA

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Taking care of an elderly family member can be stressful and family caregivers are at risk for emotional, mental and physical health problems arising from caregiver stress. Although a variety of psychosocial and pharmacological strategies have been developed to reduce caregiver stress, the efficacy in mitigating caregiver distress is modest. Acupressure, a non-invasive technique of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by applying pressure on acupoints, has been successfully used for management of multiple symptoms without adverse effects. Thus, this study using a randomized, wait-list controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of self-administered acupressure intervention on caregiver stress and associated distress symptoms of fatigue, insomnia or depression. A total of 200 Chinese family caregivers with caregiver stress and stress related symptoms of fatigue, insomnia or depression will be recruited from a community setting in Hong Kong and randomized to receive either a self-administered acupressure intervention or wait-list condition. The self-administered acupressure intervention will comprise (i) 5-hr individual learning and training session in the first 2 weeks, (ii) 2-hr home-visit reinforcement during 3rd and 4th week, and (iii) a total of 21-hr self-practice at home over 6 weeks. It is hypothesized that the family caregivers in the intervention group will have, upon completion of the program, lower levels of caregiver stress, lower scores of fatigue, insomnia, and depression with improved health-related quality of life as compared with that in the wait-list control group.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Stress

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Self-administered acupressure

The intervention consists of a total of 28 hours over a period of 8 weeks. It comprises of individual learning and practice, self-practice at home, and home follow-up.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Self-administered acupressure

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The intervention consists of a total of 28 hours over a period of 8 weeks:

i) Individual learning and practice: The training session will be one-on-one provided twice a week for two consecutive weeks (5 hours) in the participant's home.

ii) Self-practice at home: From 3rd to 8th week, participant will engage in self-administered acupressure at home for 15 minutes twice a day for 6 weeks (21 hours).

iii) Home follow-up: During the 3rd and 4th week (i.e. after the 2-week training session), a 1-hour home visit will be conducted for reinforcement of learning and self-practice by the same team of trainers once a week for 2 weeks (2 hours).

Wait-list control

The control group will receive a wait-list control condition (the same self-administered acupressure intervention but after the intervention group has completed the treatment condition).

Group Type OTHER

wait-list control

Intervention Type OTHER

The control group will receive a wait-list control condition (the same self-administered acupressure intervention but after the intervention group has completed the treatment condition).

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Self-administered acupressure

The intervention consists of a total of 28 hours over a period of 8 weeks:

i) Individual learning and practice: The training session will be one-on-one provided twice a week for two consecutive weeks (5 hours) in the participant's home.

ii) Self-practice at home: From 3rd to 8th week, participant will engage in self-administered acupressure at home for 15 minutes twice a day for 6 weeks (21 hours).

iii) Home follow-up: During the 3rd and 4th week (i.e. after the 2-week training session), a 1-hour home visit will be conducted for reinforcement of learning and self-practice by the same team of trainers once a week for 2 weeks (2 hours).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

wait-list control

The control group will receive a wait-list control condition (the same self-administered acupressure intervention but after the intervention group has completed the treatment condition).

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Chinese woman or man, 21 years of age or older, able to communicate in Cantonese or Putonghua,
* Primary caregiver of an elderly family member aged ≥ 65 years,
* Providing unpaid care to the care recipient at no less than 14 hours per week,
* Primarily responsible for making day-to-day decisions and providing assistance to the care recipient in tasks relating to activities of daily living (e.g. bathing, dressing, toileting etc.) and/or instrumental activities of daily living (e.g. housework, grocery shopping, preparing meals, managing medications etc.), and
* Screened positive for caregiver stress (a summed score of ≥ 25 as measured by the Caregiver Burden Inventory), with symptoms of fatigue (a mean score of ≥ 4 as measured by the Piper Fatigue Scale), insomnia (a global score of \> 5 as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), OR depression (a total score of ≥ 10 as measured by the Patient Health

Exclusion Criteria

* Cognitive impairment (a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≤ 23), or
* Major chronic illness (e.g. cancer) or currently taking any medications (e.g. opiates) that may prevent them from performing the intervention, or
* Participated in intervention studies involving acupressure or acupuncture previously.

Minimum Eligible Age

21 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes