The effects of cupping therapy and acupunctureapplied i̇n chronic musculoskeletal diseases on qualityof life, pain level and depression symptoms.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of cupping therapy and acupuncture applied in chronic musculoskeletal diseases (MSD) on quality of life, pain level and depression symptoms. The sample of the study consisted of 30 patients who applied to a private Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM) clinic with any chronic musculoskeletal disease, who met the research criteria and voluntarily accepted to participate in the study. The study was conducted between April 2020 and November 2020 in a single group, pre-test post-test design type of quasi-experimental study. Data were collected with the Patient Information Form, Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), the SF-36 Quality of Life Scale (QLS), the Depressive Symptom Inventory-Self-Report (IDS-SR) Acupuncture and Cupping Therapy Inspection Form. In the study, on average of 6-8 sessions (approximately 2-2.5 months), YNSA (Yamamoto New Scalp Acupuncture) which is a microsystem acupuncture method for 20-30 minutes, and then 5-15 minutes of dry cupping therapy were applied to chronic MSD patients. In determining the YNSA application points; hegu test, cervical, brachial and abdominal diagnostic points were used. Acupuncture was applied to the area defined for the corresponding body organs and structures on the scalp of the point where sensitivity was detected. Dry cupping therapy was applied to the areas where the patients had pain and sensitivity with the help of a manual pump which will generate an average of 300-500 millibar negative pressure. Pre-treatment / pre-test scale scores and post-treatment / post-test scale scores were compared and the result was obtained. A package program called SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics 24) was used for statistical analysis in the evaluation of the data. NRS mean score of the patients ± standard deviation; It was found to be 8.37 ± 1.19 in the pre-test and 3.13 ± 1.20 in the post-test. IDS-SR scores; It was found to be 30.27 ± 11.03 in the pre-test and 11.53 ± 4.88 in the post-test, and the NRS and IDS-SR values were found to be significantly lower ix after treatment than before treatment (p <0.05). All subscale scores of SF-36 after treatment were found to be significantly higher than before treatment (p <0.05). As a result of the study, it was observed that cupping therapy and acupuncture applied in chronic MSD reduce the pain level and depression symptoms of the patients and increase their quality of life. Keywords: Acupuncture, cupping therapy, pain, depression, quality of life, musculoskeletal diseases