Trial results for a study investigating the effects of acupressure on nurses' psychological distress and Depression were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-10-06, involving 160 participants and reporting a statistically significant p-value of 0.015 in one key analysis of depressive symptoms.

Background

Nurses frequently face significant psychological distress, anxiety, depression, job stress, and occupational burnout due to the demanding nature of their profession. These factors can impact their well-being and professional performance. Exploring non-pharmacological interventions like acupressure is relevant for addressing these challenges and potentially improving mental health outcomes in this critical workforce.

Trial design

This completed study, identified as Phase NA, enrolled 160 participants. The trial aimed to understand the effect of self-acupressure on the Shenmen Point (神門) and (內關) points on the hand on emotional distress, anxiety, depression, stress, work fatigue, and adaptability of clinical nurses. Participants were divided into an acupressure group, performing self-acupressure twice daily for 2 minutes over 2 weeks, and a control group.

Key results

The trial reported mean scores for depressive symptoms on a scale for both the control and acupressure intervention groups across multiple measurements. The mean scores for the control group were 11.76 (Standard Deviation 7.20), 11.70 (Standard Deviation 7.51), 12.05 (Standard Deviation 8.22), 13.35 (Standard Deviation 8.39), 12.54 (Standard Deviation 8.84), and 12.66 (Standard Deviation 9.63). For the intervention group, the mean scores were 11.55 (Standard Deviation 6.76), 10.84 (Standard Deviation 8.12), 10.86 (Standard Deviation 7.51), 10.59 (Standard Deviation 9.02), 10.95 (Standard Deviation 8.98), and 10.93 (Standard Deviation 9.22).

Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) analyses were performed, yielding p-values of 0.837, 0.428, 0.269, 0.015, 0.163, and 0.14. One of these analyses indicated a statistically significant difference with a p-value of 0.015.

What this means

The results suggest that self-acupressure may have a beneficial effect on depressive symptoms among nurses. While several measurements showed numerically lower mean depressive symptom scores in the acupressure group compared to the control group, one specific Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) analysis yielded a statistically significant p-value of 0.015. This finding indicates a potential for acupressure to reduce depressive symptoms in this population. Further research would be needed to fully understand the consistency and clinical significance of these effects across all measurements.

Source

The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT06946888, titled "Effects of Acupressure on Nurses' Psychological Distress, Depression, Job Stress, Occupational Burnout, and Resilience", were posted on 2025-10-06 on clinicaltrials.gov.