Effect of acupressure on pain intensity in patients with bone metastasis

Bone metastasis is frequently seen in cancer. Patients with bone metastasis almost always have pain. Patients sometimes describe the intensity of pain as unendurable. As well as chemotherapy (CT) and/or radiotherapy (RT), various rugs ranging from non-steroid drugs to opioids are used by these patients. In this study, our aim is to evaluate the effect of acupressure on pain in cancer patients with bone metastasis. Research was conducted as randomized, controlled and experimental on the patients receiving treatment in the Radiotherapy Unit of Gaziantep University Oncology Hospital between March 2014 and December 2014 after getting informed consent forms from the patients and Gaziantep Ethical Committee. The survey data was collected through Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and questionnaire form. All the patients having applied for the unit between the related dates formed the population of the research and the research sample consisted of patients diagnosed with cancer, having bone metastasis, having pain around their backs, necks and shoulders (VAS≥3), having vertebra degeneration, having no communication problem and the volunteer participants of the research. The number of samples was defined as 20 for each group in order to get a statistically meaningful 1,5 units difference in VAS scoring of pre-intervention and post-implementation of acupressure. Patients were divided into one control group (30) and one experimental group (30) through random sample method in accordance with working criteria. Both groups were given a questionnaire form before and after the intervention. The control group consisted of patients with bone metastasis and receiving clinical treatment. The control group received no intervention except routine clinical processes. The experimental group were given 8 sessions of acupressure massage with each lasting 10 minutes. They were done based on the localization of the pain. Data collected were evaluated via chi-square test, one sample t test, student t test and paired t test. It was found that 53,3% of the patients in the experimental group were between 40 and 59 years old, 50% of those in the control group were 60 years old or more, most patients in both groups were diagnosed as respiratory cancer patients and that all the patients answered "Yes" to the question "Are you feeling pain at the moment?" (p>0,05). It was observed that the rate of pre-intervention in the experimental group which was VAS 7,6±1,9 fell to VAS 6,8±1,9 following the intervention and this result was statistically meaningful (p<0,05). It was also observed tthat he rate of control group which was VAS 8,2±1,7 fell to VAS 7,7±2,1 (p>0,05). Results showed that acupressure was an effective method of taking pains under control for cancer patients with bone metastasis and receiving primary medical treatment. Key words: Cancer, pain, acupressure, nursing