The Effects of Auricular Acupressure Therapy on Sleep Disorder and Fatigue in Menopausal Women

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of auricular acupressure therapy on sleep disorder and fatigue in menopausal women. Methods: The study design was a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 40~60 years old women, assigned to the experimental group (n=25) or the control group (n=27). Auricular acupressure using vaccaria seeds was administered to the experimental group. The sessions continued for 6 weeks. Outcome measures included Pittsburgh sleep quality index, sleep meter, sleep diary, fatigue assessment instrument, serum cortisol, and serum serotonin. Results: Menopausal women in the experimental group showed significant increases in deep sleep, light sleep, serotonin level and sleep duration compared with the control group. Also, the experimental group reported decreases in PSQI, sleep latency, awakening time, fatigue and cortisol level compared with the control group. Conclusion: Results show that auricular acupressure using vaccaria seeds is considered as an effective treatment for sleep disorder and fatigue in menopausal women. We conclude that it can be used as a nursing intervention method proven to reduce sleep disorder and fatigue in menopausal women.