NCT05558657

Effect of Acupressure on Constipation in Community-dwelling Spinal Cord Injury Patients: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Effect of Home-based Acupressure on Constipation in People with Spinal Cord Injury: a Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial with a Mixed-method Approach

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 80 (actual)
• Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Spinal cord injury is a multi-sensory, motor and autonomic dysfunction, caused by various types of acute and chronic central nervous system injuries. And it will affect patient's ability to live normally and return to society. Due to lack of physical activity and psychological and environmental factors, the feces remain in the intestine for too long, and there will be excessive water absorption and lead to dryness and difficulty in excretion and it will be constipation. Chinese medicine, acupuncture and acupressure are the treatments of constipation in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Acupressure is a non- invasive intervention which is easy to learn and apply. We have carried out a number of studies on spinal cord injury rehabilitation support and acupressure to solve chronic problems such as constipation and anxiety. And this study aims to investigate the effects of acupressure combined with nursing intervention on constipation and quality of life in community-dwelling spinal cord injury patients.

Detailed description

This study will use an open-label, double-group, randomized controlled trial to compare the effect of the intervention group with the control group. Study participants will be recruited from the "Hong Kong Direction Association for the Handicapped, a non-governmental organization dedicated to serving severely disabled Hong Kong people such as SCI. The sociodemographic data, disease status and outcome indicators of the study subjects were measured before the intervention, after the intervention and one month after the intervention. Research assistants (RA1) were trained to evaluate data and data, blinded to group assignments. We will have the focus group interviews (semi-structured) with participants after the the intervention (post-intervention). The interviews will be conducted online to further understand the benefits and limitations of the research intervention.

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Traditional Chinese Medicine

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Home-based, acupressure combined with nursing education	The intervention group will focus on 11 acupoints on the abdomen (RN12, RN4, ST25), back (BL20, BL21, BL22, BL23, BL24, BL25), and limbs (LI4, ST36). The participants or their caregivers can perform acupressure 30 minutes after meals and twice a day. Participants can choose between two sets of acupressure: (1) Acupressure of the abdominal and back acupoints in a seated position, or (2) Acupressure of the abdominal and limb acupoints in a supine position. Each session lasts approximately 15 minutes. Besides, the intervention group will also receive nursing education on the basis of receiving acupressure intervention including (1) dietary guidance: help patients to formulate a reasonable diet plan, (2) cultivate regular defecation habits, (3) understand appropriate defecation environments and postures, and (4) Moderate exercise to increase gastrointestinal motility.
OTHER	Home-based, manual light touch of the abdomen combined with nursing education	Control group or their caregivers will apply the manual light touch to the abdomen in any direction or body position at home. In keeping consistent with the intervention group, abdomen touching will also be administered twice daily for approximately 15 minutes each for 10 days. Participants will also receive nursing education.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-03-01
• Primary completion: 2024-09-30
• Completion: 2024-09-30
• First posted: 2022-09-28
• Last updated: 2024-10-10

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Hong Kong