The effect of acupressure on sleep quality in hemodialysis patients

SummaryObjectiveOur purpose was to investigate the effects of acupressure on sleep quality in hemodialysis patients.DesignRandomized clinical trial.SettingThe setting of the study was dialysis wards located in two university hospitals (Imam and Golestan) in Ahvaz, Iran.Interventions48 end-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis who scored 5 points or higher on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were enrolled to the study. Acupressure group received acupressure intervention on the Shenmen (He7) and He Gu (Li4) points in the hands and Sanyingjao (sp6) point in the feet for 4 weeks beside routine care and control group received only routine care.Main outcome measuressubjective sleep quality, latency and duration, habitual sleep efficiency; sleep disturbances, daytime functional status, and use of sleeping medications.ResultsThe result indicated significant differences between the acupressure group and the control group after intervention in PSQI global scores (p < 0.001) and all sleep quality indices between two groups after intervention: subjective sleep quality (p < 0.001), sleep latency (p < 0.001), sleep duration (p < 0.001), sleep efficiency (p = 0.006), sleep disturbance (p < 0.001), the use of sleeping medication (p = 0.028), and daytime dysfunction (p < 0.001).ConclusionThis study supports the effectiveness of acupressure in improving sleep quality of end-stage renal disease patients as a noninvasive therapy.