The effectiveness of Acupressure in Reducing Anxiety, Pain and Quality of Life of Patient

Pain and anxiety caused by various diseases majorly affect the patient’s quality of life. The role of anxiety and stress in increasing the human’s disease morbidity have been confirmed. This necessitates applying different form of therapeutic interventions to reduce anxiety and pain and increase the quality of life of patients. In the present study, the effectiveness of acupressure to reducing anxiety, pain and increasing the patient’s life quality was investigated.

This is a review study, which evaluated previous researches using systematic review method. We searched keywords including Acupressure, Anxiety, Pain, Quality of Life and Disease in Persian and English language scientific Databases between 2010 and 2021. Qualitative evaluation of searched articles was applied the 32-factor COREQ guideline to increase the richness of the retrieved articles numbers, and the results of articles that were more relevant to the subject were excluded.

Current therapies to control pain and anxiety have different forms of risks and limitations. Intensification of drug therapy or exploratory surgery for pain can have iatrogenic side effects, exacerbation of disease activity, psychological distress, and patients’ quality of life deterioration. Acupressure is a safe yet inexpensive intervention and can be a substitute for anti-anxiety drugs. It is also easy to learn and applicable at home, and studies showed its positive effects on nursing interventions and patient care.

Discussion and Conclusion:

Acupressure is a comfortable and safe intervention and its positive results were recorded in various diseases. Therefore, acupressure can be used as a non-pharmacological method alongside drug therapy to reduce patients’ suffering.