Effects of auricular acupressure on menstrual pain, dysmenorrhea, and academic stress in women college students

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of auricular acupressure on menstrual pain, dysmenorrhea and academic stress among college students. Methods: A non-equivalent pretest-posttest design was used. Participants were 57 female students recruited from one college. The treatment group (n=30) received an auricular acupressure on a valid zone and the control group (n=27) received an auricular acupressure on an invalid zone (placebo). The independent t-test and x2-test were used to examine group differences by using SPSS/Win18.0. Results: Subjects in the treatment group reported much less menstrual pain of premenstrual day (p =.001), 1st day (p<.001), 2nd day (p=.003), and dysmenorrhea (p=.003). Of significance, participants in the treatment group reported much less academic stress (p=.049) following auricular acupressure. Conclusion: The findings support that auricular acupressure is effective in controlling menstrual pain and academic stress related to menstruation. As the method is simple it would be useful for women students to be taught and encouraged to utilize this method to mitigate the symptoms related to menstruation through self care. © 2013 Korean Society of Adult Nursing.