Effects and safety of auricular acupressure on depression and anxiety in isolated COVID-19 patients: A single-blind randomized controlled trial

Abstract

ObjectivePsychological distress such as depression and anxiety resulted from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have attracted increasing attention. The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effects and safety of auricular acupressure on depression and anxiety in isolated COVID-19 patients.Methods68 participants diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia (18–80 years old, SDS ≥ 50, SAS ≥ 45) were recruited and randomly allocated to the auricular acupressure group and the sham auricular acupressure group by a computer-generated random number sequence from 9th June to 30th June 2022. The group allocation was only blinded to the participants. Those in the auricular acupressure group were attached magnetic beads against 4 auricular points Shenmen, Subcortex, Liver and Endocrine, while sham group used four irrelevant auricular points. Outcomes were measured by Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SAS) before and after treatment in both groups through electronic questionnaire in mobile phones.ResultsAfter treatment, statistically significant differences were found in scores of SAS in both groups (P < 0.001 in auricular acupressure group; P = 0.003 in sham group), and SDS scores reduced significantly in the auricular acupressure group (P = 0.002). Significant reduced SAS and SDS scores were achieved in the auricular acupressure group than that in the sham group (F = 4.008, P = 0.049, MD −7.70 95% CI: −9.00, −6.40, SMD −2.79 95% CI: −3.47, −2.11 in SDS; F = 10.186, P = 0.002, MD −14.00 95% CI: −15.47, −12.53, SMD −4.46 95% CI: −5.37, −3.56 in SAS). No adverse events were found in either group during the whole study.ConclusionAuricular acupressure is an effective and safe treatment for alleviating symptoms of depressive and anxiety in patients with COVID-19.Clinical trial registrationhttps://www.chictr.org.cn//, identifier ChiCTR2200061351.

Acupressure: a possible therapeutic strategy for anxiety related to COVID-19: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…Four studies (8,11,14,15) selectively report results, indicating in a high risk of bias. Other studies (20,23,(36)(37)(38)40) had registered online with specified outcomes, leading to a low risk of bias in selective reporting. All trials had an unknown risk in other sources of bias.…”

Acupoint stimulation for long COVID: A promising intervention

“…Acupoint stimulation has promising applications in improving psychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety and depression in patients with long COVID. A single-blind, randomized controlled study showed that auricular acupressure in the area of hypodermic, subcortex, hepatic, and endocrine may alleviate anxiety and depression in patients with COVID-19 [99] . In addition, taVNS may improve immune function through the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway and modulate brain circuits through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis [100] .…”

Effect of auricular acupressure combined with acupuncture for juvenile pseudomyopia

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Acupuncture at acupoints and auricular acupressure can treat a variety of disorders, such as neck pain, neuropathic pain, stroke rehabilitation, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, dysmenorrhea, depression and anxiety. [14,16,[20][21][22][23][24][25] Most importantly, they have also been reported to effectively manage myopia. [26,27] However, data on the management of APP plus acupuncture in JPM are limited.…”