The Effect of Acupressure on Anxiety and Quality of Life in Patients with Type II Diabetes

Diabetes is the most common metabolic disorder and is considered as a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, nephropathy, hypertension, eye complications, and psychological disorders such as anxiety. Anxiety can negatively affect the patients’ quality of life. One of the non-pharmaceutical methods of relieving the anxiety is using acupressure, which helps to relieve anxiety and its subsequent physiological signs. This study aimed to determine the effect of acupressure on anxiety and quality of life in diabetic patients.
This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 40 patients referred to diabetes clinic in Zabol, Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran, using single subject and pre-test-post-test designs. The Spielberger (SF-36) questionnaires of anxiety and quality of life were filled out by the participants and the intervention was done for four weeks. The questionnaires were re-completed after the intervention period. Data analysis performed using SPSS version 22.
The mean scores of anxiety before and after the intervention were reported 111/21±17/72 and 78/91±9/13, respectively. Therefore, significant differences were observed before and after intervention in all aspects (P The results of this study confirmed that acupressure had a positive effect on relieving anxiety and improving the quality of diabetic patients’ life. Therefore, it is recommended to train the healthcare workers such as nurses about the impacts and ways of administrating this procedure.