Effects of Acupressure Applied to Intensive Care Patients on Physiological Parameters, Pain, Sleep Quality, Anxiety and Perception of Nursing Presence

Summary

This study will be conducted in a randomized controlled experimental design to examine the effects of acupressure applied to patients treated in the intensive care unit on physiological parameters, pain, sleep quality, anxiety and perception of nurse presence. The study will be conducted with 60 patients (20 intervention, 20 placebo, 20 control groups) treated in the 2nd stage Intensive Care Unit of an University Hospital between May 2025 and January 2026. Acupressure will be applied to the intervention group for 2 days, morning and evening, for four sessions. For four sessions, pseudo acupressure will be used on the placebo group for 2 days, morning and evening. No application will be made to the control group. The data collection tools in the study are the Patient Identifier Information Form, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Visual Assessment Scale (VAS), Physiological Parameter Assessment Form, Richards-Campbell Sleep Scale, Spielberg State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Nurse Presence Scale (PONS).

Conditions

• Acupressure
• Intensive Care Unit
• Anxiety
• Nursing Presence
• Sleep Quality
• Physiological Parameters

Interventions

OTHER

Acupressure

The patient will be placed in a suitable position (supine) or alternatively in a side-lying position, and the patient's privacy will be taken into account to determine the pressure points. The patient's own finger measurement will be taken into account when determining the pressure points. Acupressure points will be marked using a surgical marking pen. The pressure will be applied manually. The thumb will be used for this. Before applying direct pressure to the point, a light rubbing movement will be made for approximately 15 seconds on the point area to reduce tension and tissue sensitivity, to warm, relax and prepare. Approximately 2 minutes of pressure will be applied to each point in a circular manner. Each application will last approximately 18 minutes. The patient will be measured 9 times in total during 4 sessions.

OTHER

pseudo acupressure

A pseudo acupressure will be applied to the patients in the supine or side-lying position. The researcher will perform this application by wearing gloves. Wearing gloves will reduce the therapeutic interaction with the patient. Since applying pressure or circular rubbing movements to patients may enter the area where other meridians pass and create a different effect, it will be waited for 2 minutes without applying any pressure or rubbing movements on the bone protrusions where the meridian does not pass and where there are no active pressure points. The application will be determined to be approximately 2 cm away from the acupressure points. The application will again be done manually with the thumb. Each application will take approximately 18 minutes. 4 sessions of application and a total of 9 measurements will be made to the patients.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Gazi University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-05-01

Primary Completion

2025-12-31

Completion

2026-01-31

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations