This was a feasibility pilot study conducted using a randomized controlled design in which participants were randomly assigned to either an active auricular acupressure group (AAG) or a sham auricular acupressure group (SAG). Data were collected at baseline (time 0), and 1-week (time 1), 2-weeks (time 2) and 3-weeks (time 3) after the end of the intervention, which was 3 weeks long.
Participants To be included in the study, participants needed to be a parent of a child (less than 18 years old) who was newly diagnosed with cancer (less than 3 months) and who was receiving treatment with chemotherapy. Parents were excluded if they were: (1) receiving any medication or treatment for insomnia; (2) had received any acupuncture or acupressure in the recent 3 months; or (3) had ever been diagnosed with other chronic illnesses (such as cancer, heart disease, or asthma) at the time of data collection. The reason for excluding parents with chronic illnesses was to increase the similarity of subjects in this study, because such chronic illnesses may have an impact on sleep and mood.
Intervention: auricular acupressure program The AAG participants received auricular acupressure three times a day for five days every week for three weeks. Using Dr. Huang's ear reflex theory, our AAG intervention included six acupoints (i.e., shenmen, subcortex, heart, kidney, anxious, and neurasthenia points) that have been demonstrated to be effective in improving sleep and emotional stability 17, 18. Participants in SAG received the same protocol of auricular acupressure as the AAG, but six acupoints were used near the treated acupoints (e.g., sacroiliac, neck, stomach, wrist, tonsil, and tongue), which would have had no effects on participants' sleep and mood status.
Both acupressure interventions were started by cleaning the earlobe using 75% alcohol. Then, a small piece of adhesive tape with 2 seeds, which provide pressure at specific points was taped onto each selected auricular acupoint on a participant's ear. Next, the auricular therapist demonstrated the acupoints press technique to participants. The participants were asked to press one acupoint slightly to more firmly for 1 minute by themselves until they felt discomfort or tingling, then move to the next acupoint until all 6 acupoints were completed. The ear seed tapes were kept in place for 5 days and removed by participants for 2 days. After the 2-day rest period, the participant returned to the researcher to have the ear tapes replaced. Unilateral auricular points were used for the intervention and the treatment ear was changed to the other ear every week until the 3-week intervention was completed. All the auricular acupressure interventions were conducted by the same researcher.
