The effect of acupressure on daytime sleepiness and sleep quality in hemodialysis patients

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of acupressure on daytime sleepiness and sleep quality of hemodialysis patients. Material and Methods: The population of this pre-test-post-test with control group semi-experimental study consisted of 161 patients who were treated at 3 hemodialysis centers affiliated to the Adiyaman Public Hospitals. The research was completed with 36 HD patients in the experimental group and 39 HD patients in the control group. The data was collected in the research through the patient identification form, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality İndex and Epworth Sleepiness Scale between the dates of March- August 2016. Experimental group received acupressure intervention on the Shenmen (HT7), Sanyingjao (Sp6) and Yungquan (KI1) acupoints that limited 12 minutes for four consecutive weeks during hemodialysis treatment. No interference was applied to the control group. In the evaluation of the data descriptive statistics, pearson correlation analysis and independent student t test were used. Results: There was statistically significant difference between experimental and control group global score of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality İndex at mid-test and post-test but there was not statistically significant difference at pre-test (p<0.05). It was determined that the sleep quality of the experimental group was better than the control group at mid-test and post-test (p=0.001). There was statistically significant difference between experimental and control group Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores at mid-test and post-test but there was not statistically significant difference at pre-test (p<0.05). It was determined that daytime sleepiness of the experimental group was better than the control group at mid-test and post-test (p=0.001). After acupressure application, the duration of sleeping in the experimental group was less than the control group and the duration of total sleep was higher than the control group (p <0.05). Conclusion: It was concluded that the acupressure which was applied to HD patients increases the sleep quality and reduces daytime sleepiness. Keywords: Hemodialysis, Patient, Acupressure, Sleep Quality, Daytime sleepiness