The effect of acupressure on sleep quality in pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy: A randomized clinical trial

Sleep disorder is one of the common disorders during pregnancy and it is important to identify effective interventions to improve the health of pregnant women. The present study was conducted aimed to determine the effect of acupressure on the sleep quality of pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy.

This clinical trial study was conducted in 2018 on 60 pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy referring to the health centers in Hamedan city. The study tools were Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Questionnaire and Visual Linear Pain Scale Questionnaire. The subjects were placed in two groups of test and control. In the test group, acupressure was applied to real points for 3 weeks, and in the control group, acupressure was applied to false points for 3 weeks. Both groups completed the visual linear pain scale questionnaire before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software (version 18) and Mann-Whitney, Fisher's exact and repeated measurement analysis. P<0.05 was considered as a significant level.

There was no significant difference between the two groups before the intervention in terms of sleep quality and other investigated variables (p=0.691). The effect of the intervention over time in improving the quality of night and daytime sleep was significant between the two groups (p<0.001), but the mutual effect of the intervention between the two groups did not show a difference in the duration of daytime sleep (p=0.534).

Acupressure can improve the quality of night and day sleep in pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy, so this method can be used as an auxiliary method in improving the sleep disorder of pregnant women.