Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-22-2021
Publication Title
Global Advances In Health and Medicine
Volume
10
First page number:
1
Last page number:
12
Abstract
Background: Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) is the most common self-reported chronic pain condition. Current treatment for CMP is limited. Methods: This was a two-phase study. In Phase 1, three auricular point acupressure (APA)-naïve participants were recruited to explore their experiences of APA and a smartphone app was developed based on their feedback. In Phase 2, a prospective longitudinal study was used to examine the effectiveness of the smartphone app to self-manage CMP. Results: Phase 1 resulted in the successful development of the APA smartphone app. In Phase 2, after four weeks of APA, participants reported reduced pain intensity (30%), pain interference (35%), and disability (40%), as well as improved physical function (47%). The mean score for the participants’ perception of treatment efficacy was 4.94 (SD = 2.08, scale of 0–7) indicating that approximately 70% of participants rated global improvements with noticeable changes. The majority (88%, n = 22) of the participants were satisfied with the treatment: 32% [8] were very satisfied and 56% [n = 14] were somewhat satisfied. The average frequency of pressing APA seeds per day was 2.93 times (SD = 2.27, range 0–10) and 1.60 minutes per time (SD = 2.64, range 0–10); the participants were able to adhere to the suggested pressing time per day, although they only pressed the ear points about 53% of the suggested time. Conclusion: It is feasible for individuals to learn APA from the smartphone app and successfully self-administer APA to manage their pain. Participants found the app useful and were satisfied with the information provided through the app.
Keywords
Auricular point acupressure; Musculoskeletal pain; Self-management; Smartphone application
Disciplines
Musculoskeletal Diseases
File Format
File Size
555 KB
Language
English
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Repository Citation
Kawi, J.,
Yeh, C.,
Li, M.,
Caswell, K.,
Mazraani, M.,
Lukkahatai, N.,
Mensah, S.,
Taylor, J.,
Budhathoki, C.,
Christo, P.
(2021).
Auricular Point Acupressure Smartphone Application to Manage Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Longitudinal, One-Group, Open Pilot Trial.
Global Advances In Health and Medicine, 10
1-12.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2164956120987531