Evaluating Auricular Point Acupressure for Chronic Low Back Pain Self-Management Using Technology: A Feasibility Study

Use of Information and Communication Technologies to Enhance Self-Acupressure: a Literature Review

“…Among them, one study that was not a clinical study, five studies that did not use self-acupressure, seven studies that did not combine ICTs with self-acupressure, and two studies that used the same data as published journal articles (conference abstracts) were excluded. Finally, 12 studies [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] were included in this review (Fig. 1).…”

“…The 12 included studies were published between 2018 and 2021. In terms of study design, five RCTs [20,[23][24][25]28], three pilot studies with one group [22,27,30], two RCT protocols [26,31], one focus group and online survey [21], and one qualitative study [29] were included. Among the included studies, the rationale for four studies [25,[28][29][30] was the COVID-19 era (4/12, 33.33%).…”

“…In terms of study design, five RCTs [20,[23][24][25]28], three pilot studies with one group [22,27,30], two RCT protocols [26,31], one focus group and online survey [21], and one qualitative study [29] were included. Among the included studies, the rationale for four studies [25,[28][29][30] was the COVID-19 era (4/12, 33.33%). There were six kinds of target populations or conditions, and musculoskeletal injuries or pain was the most common (5/12, 41.67%), followed by cancer-related symptoms (2/12, 16.67%), dysmenorrhea (2/12, 16.67%), mental health issues (2/12, 16.67%), obesity (1/12, 8.33%), and other (1/12, 8.33%) (Fig.…”

“…Participants participated in the program for a total of nine sessions, 2 hours per week and reported that it alleviated barriers to care associated with transportation, mobility, and childcare during COVID-19. Yeh et al [30] conducted a pilot feasibility study of subjects with chronic lower back pain that consisted of two phases (Phases I and II). In Phase I, 18 adult participants were recruited and instructed to self-administer AA for 4 weeks after being provided with the smartphone application supporting self-acupressure and the appropriate kit.…”

Exploring the Feasibility of Virtually Delivered Auricular Point Acupressure in Self-Managing Chronic Pain: Qualitative Study

“…Our interdisciplinary team has conducted several trials and accumulated significant evidence for chronic pain reduction using APA compared to sham APA. Our team demonstrated the following: (1) significant rapid and sustained effects on pain-related outcomes—APA resulted in rapid pain relief (≥38% three minutes post-APA [ 42 , 43 ]) with >44% pain relief and >28% improved physical function at follow-up after 4 weeks of APA [ 35 , 44 – 49 ]; (2) reduced use of pain medications—after 4 weeks of APA, ≥60% of participants reported less use of pain medications [ 35 , 50 ]; (3) similar effectiveness between interventionist-administered vs. self-administered APA—we developed a self-guided, mobile-enabled APA application (app) to allow patients to self-administer APA[51]. After 4 weeks, 26 users showed an average reduction of 46% in pain intensity and 31% in pain interference [ 51 ]; and (4) successful integration of APA into a major healthcare system in real-world clinical practice [ 43 , 52 ]—patients who received APA by trained nurses achieved 71% pain reduction post-48 hours of APA [ 43 ].…”