Analgesic effect of auricular point acupressure for acute pain in patients with dementia: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Authors

Xiao Min Chai
Hong Yan Shi
Jun Jun Zhang
Lei Wang
Hai Xiang Gao
Ya Liang Dai
Lu Lu Gao
Jian Qiang Yu
Yu Xiang Li
Carol Chunfeng Wang, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Trials

Volume

23

Issue

1

PubMed ID

35568917

Publisher

Springer

School

School of Nursing and Midwifery

RAS ID

44379

Funders

National Natural Science Fund (grant number: 81960726)

Grant Number

81960726

Comments

Chai, X. M., Shi, H. Y., Zhang, J. J., Wang, L., Gao, H. X., Dai, Y. L., ... & Wang, C. C. (2022). Analgesic effect of auricular point acupressure for acute pain in patients with dementia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 23(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-022-06326-5

Abstract

Background: Common and frequent as acute pain is, it is often underestimated and undertreated in older people with dementia in nursing homes and inadequate pain management remains an issue. Methods: The study is designed to be a randomized, sham-controlled trial and is underway in nursing homes located in China. A total of 206 dementia patients are being recruited from nursing homes in Yinchuan, China. They are randomly allocated to an intervention or a controlled group in a 1:1 ratio. The intervention group will be treated with true APP therapy, while the other group will receive APP at sham point stimulation therapy. The patients will be assessed at baseline (T0), at 5 min during performing the intervention (T1), and at 5 min after completion of the intervention (T2). The primary outcome is the level of pain relief at T1 and T2. Physiological parameters, side effects and additional use of analgesics during the procedure, satisfaction from caregivers, and acceptance of patients are evaluated as secondary outcomes. Discussion: The results of this study are expected to verify the analgesic effect of APP for acute pain in patients with mild dementia in nursing homes. It has the potential to prompt APP therapy to be implemented widely in dementia patients with acute pain in nursing homes. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100047932. Registered on 27 June 2021. Currently, patient recruitment is ongoing. Recruitment is expected to take place from December 2020 to December 2021.

DOI

10.1186/s13063-022-06326-5

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.