An interventional study of Self-acupressure and Acupressure by therapists in Pain, Nausea With Vomiting Chemotherapy-Induced and Mental Health Wellness 1, sponsored by Mersin University. Completed at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-02.
Sponsored by Mersin University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the effect of self acupressure and acupressure applied by therapists on pain, nausea-vomiting, and mental well-being in oncology patients.
For this purpose, 96 individuals with stage 1-stage 3 cancer will be included in the study.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Self-acupressure participants will self-administer acupressure. In the acupressure group, which will be applied by the therapist, acupressure will be applied to the participants by researchers who have acupressure certificate.
In the control group, acupressure etc. No additional application will be made. Visual analog scale, nausea-vomiting and retching index, and mental well-being scales will be applied to all groups at the beginning of the study and three days after the study.
Large Intestine Meridian 4th point (Hegu/LI4), Pericardium Meridian/Neiguan (P6) point and Yintang (EX-HN 3) point will be used for acupressure application in the research.
2,226 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain; 917 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 96 is above the median of 70 across 1,911 interventional studies indexed under Pain.
Browse Pain studies →Mersin University is the lead sponsor of 173 studies on the registry; 48 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
The first acupressure application will be administered and taught individually by the researcher to the oncology patients in the self-administered group. Afterwards, each patient who learns the application will be asked to apply acupressure on his own for three days. In the self-acupressure group, a questionnaire form consisting of a personal information form, visual analog scale, nausea, vomiting and retching index and mental well-being scale will be applied first (pre-test) before the acupressure application is taught to the group by the researchers. Afterwards, patients will apply acupressure on their own for three days, and at the end of this period (post-test), a questionnaire consisting of personal information form, visual analog scale, nausea, vomiting and retching index and mental well-being scale will be applied. Acupressure will be applied the large intestine meridian 4th Point (LI4), the pericardium meridian Neiguan (P6) and Yintang (EX-HN3).
Other: Self-acupressure
In this group, acupressure will be administered to stage I, stage II, and stage III cancer patients receiving at least one course of chemotherapy for a total of three days by researchers with acupressure certification. Before the application (pre-test) by the therapist, a questionnaire consisting of a personal information form, visual analog scale, nausea, vomiting and retching index and mental well-being scale will be applied to the patients in the group in question. At the end of the three-day acupressure application (post-test) applied to the patients included in the study by the therapist, a questionnaire consisting of a personal information form, visual analog scale, nausea, vomiting and retching index and mental well-being scale will be applied. In the acupressure group applied by the therapist, a total of three points will be applied to the upper extremity: the 4th point of the large intestine meridian (LI4), the Pericardium Meridian/Neiguan (P6), Yintang (EX-HN3) point.
Other: Acupressure by therapists
The control group will receive the routine treatment applied in the hospital, and acupressure will not be applied to this group.
Other: Control group
In the self-acupressure group, before the application, the tissue sensitivity will be reduced by heating and rubbing for 20 seconds without direct pressure on the acupressure points, and the points will be made ready for acupressure application. Afterwards, sequential (breathing rhythm) compressions will be applied to the determined acupressure points by the researcher for a total of two minutes for each point without raising the finger, taking into account the pain threshold of the individual who is applied with the thumb, with 10 seconds of pressure for two seconds of relief. Two of the three different points (LI4 and P6) selected for the application will be applied symmetrically on the other extremity. Therefore, the session duration of each patient will be approximately 12 minutes, depending on the preparation and compression time on each point. Afterwards, acupressure will be applied to themselves by participants
In the acupressure group applied by therapist, before the application, the tissue sensitivity will be reduced by heating and rubbing for about 20 seconds without direct pressure on the acupressure points, and the points will be ready for acupressure application. Afterwards, sequential (breathing rhythm) compressions will be applied to the determined acupressure points by the researcher for a total of two minutes for each point without raising the finger, taking into account the pain threshold of the individual who is applied with the thumb, with 10 seconds of pressure for two seconds of relief. Two of the three different points (LI4 and P6) selected for the application will be applied symmetrically on the other extremity. Therefore, the session duration of each patient will be approximately 12 minutes, depending on the preparation and compression time on each point.
No intervention will be made in the control group.
Pain intensity will be evaluated with a visual analog scale.
The patient evaluates their own pain using a scale ranging from 1 to 10, with 1 = very mild discomfort and 10 = the most severe pain the patient can imagine. Ranges for pain intensity; \<3 mild pain, 3-6 moderate pain, \>6 severe pain.
Time frame: Change from baseline pain level at 3 days
Nausea-vomiting severity will be evaluated with the Rhodes Nausea-Vomiting and Retching Index.
Each response is scored as 0 = least distress, 4 = most distress. The patient's experience of nausea and vomiting in each of the 8 items is summed up. The highest possible value is 32, indicating the most severe symptom occurrence score.
Time frame: Change from baseline nausea-vomiting level at 3 days
Mental well-being will be evaluated using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale.
The scale is in the 5-point Likert type and a minimum of 14 and a maximum of 70 points are obtained from the scale. Scoring of the scale is (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat agree, 4 = agree, 5 = completely agree).
Time frame: Change from baseline mental well-being level at 3 days
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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