The effectiveness of acupressure in the management of depressive symptoms and in improving quality of life in older people living in the community: a randomised sham-controlled trial

Impacts of acupressure treatment on depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Ten studies recruited participants with chronic diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease[ 22 ], lung cancer[ 26 ], acute myocardial infarction[ 27 ], breast cancer[ 28 ], low back pain[ 29 ], multiple sclerosis[ 30 ], hemodialysis[ 31 - 33 ], and unilateral knee osteoarthritis[ 34 ]. Three studies recruited patients with depression[ 24 , 25 , 35 ]. One study was for patients with Alzheimer’s disease comorbided with depression[ 23 ].…”

“…Blinding of outcome assessments was sufficiently carried out in 13 studies, with only one study providing no detailed description[ 26 ]. Five of them expressly stated a completion rate of their participants and were at low risk of attrition bias[ 22 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 34 ], while the others gave no details of missing data. All studies presented the outcomes clearly and were rated as having a low risk of selection bias.…”

“…Among the included studies, five of them applied three acupoints or fewer[ 25 , 26 , 30 - 32 ], and six studies applied more than three acupressure points[ 22 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 33 , 34 ]. However, three studies did not report the specific acupoints used for the intervention[ 23 , 27 , 35 ].…”

“…All studies mentioned that selection of acupoints was based on the TCM principles and aimed to improve the body’s natural self-healing capacity by regulating and balancing Qi. Three studies[ 22 , 24 , 29 ] selected the acupoints based on a thorough literature review of the effects of acupressure on depression. Hmwe et al [ 32 ] reported that two TCM specialists from local universities had reviewed the selection of acupoints.…”

“…Either “sham” or “treat as usual” (TAU) were used as controls. Nine studies employed sham stimulation that located around the true acupoints and were irrelevant to the treatment of depression[ 22 , 24 - 26 , 28 - 31 , 33 ]. Four studies had both a sham and a TAU control group[ 24 , 26 , 28 , 33 ].…”