Acupressure therapy for morning sickness. A controlled clinical trial

Abstract

A prospective, controlled clinical trial examined the efficacy of acupressure therapy for morning sickness, using a two group, random assignment, crossover design. Subjects in Group 1 (N = 8) used acupressure wristbands for five days, followed by five days without therapy. Subjects in Group 2 (N = 8) had no therapy for five days, followed by five days use of wristbands. The Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist and Sickness Impact Profile were used, and extent of nausea was assessed at baseline, day five, and day ten. Use of acupressure wristbands relieved morning sickness for 12 of 16 subjects (chi 2 = 5.31 with Yates' correction factor, df = 1, p less than .025). Acupressure therapy resulted in statistically significant (p less than .05) reductions in anxiety, depression, behavioral dysfunction, and nausea. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are presented.