Effects of acupressure on quality of life and sleep in end-stage renal disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Article type
Year
Authors
Chen P1, Huang T2, Lai J3
1Department of Nursing, Puli Christian Hospital; Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Nursing, HungKuang University, Taiwan
2Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Nursing, HungKuang University, Taiwan
3Department of Internal Medicine, Erlin Branch of Changhua Christian Hospital, Taiwan
Abstract
Background: Sleep disturbance is a common symptom in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Acupressure is a widely used to assist with numerous symptoms in different diseases.

Objectives: We investigated whether acupressure could manage sleep problems and improve quality of life in patients with ESRD.

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effectiveness of acupressure in quality of sleep and quality of life of ESRD patients. We searched the following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), for relevant articles published before March 2016, with no language restrictions. The outcomes included depression, quality of sleep and quality of life.

Results: Six RCTs were identified with 415 patients. Five studies evaluating whether acupressure affected the quality of sleep found that sleep disturbance decreased significantly in the acupressure groups, with a weighted mean difference of -3.69 and a 95% confidence interval (CI) of -5.66 to -1.73. Two studies assessed the quality of life (SF-36), and found that both the physical and mental component scores increased significantly in the acupressure groups, with weighted mean differences of 3.24 (95% CI, 0.43 to 6.06) and 5.01 (95% CI 2.34 to 7.69), respectively. Two studies assessed depression symptoms, and found that these decreased significantly in the acupressure groups, with a weighted standard mean difference of -0.32 (95% CI -0.62 to -0.02).

Conclusions: The current evidence from RCTs supports the use of acupressure to improve quality of sleep and quality of life. However, inconsistencies in the protocols for the various studies confounded our intended evaluation of the effect of acupressure in patients with ESRD.