A Study on Effects of Acupressure Among the Frail Elderly in Residential Care Services for the Elderly

NCT02491216 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: CTC1215-2
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 65
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Acupressure has been used for thousands of years in China. Through applying pressure on the specific acupoints based on Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, acupressure could promote relaxation and wellness, balance yin-yang and treat diseases. The PI has been using acupressure to treat various diseases in the clinics of the School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong. Acupressure has demonstrated significant efficacy in treating geriatric diseases, obstetric diseases, pediatric diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and various painful symptoms. When applying acupressure on the Head- Neck - Shoulder area, it could also help to improve insomnia, reduce pain, and regulate the mood of the patients. "Frailty" is a geriatric syndrome of growing importance in the medical field. Prevalence of frailty increases with age. As our life expectancy increase, there will be more elderly suffered from frailty in the later stage of their life. Although there is still a lack of universally accepted clinical definition for frailty, the syndrome is now commonly understood as decreased reserves in multiple systems, and lowered resilience to negative stress. Frailty could be initiated by single or multiple conditions including malnutrition, chronic diseases, lack of exercise, stress and physiological or social changes caused by aging. Its manifestation includes sarcopenia, anorexia, energy reduction, dysfunctional neuroendocrine system and a pro-inflammatory state. Frailty could affect the emotional state of the elderly, meanwhile, positive affect is protective against the functional and physical decline associated with frailty. There is limited treatment or medication for frailty. The investigators believe that acupressure could be a possible non invasive means to improve the general health conditions, including the emotional conditions of the frail elderly. In the past 2 years, the school of Chinese Medicine has been promoting acupressure as a health maintenance technique to the elderly, mostly frail elderly living in the community dwelling through seminars. It is in investigator's interest to run a prospective research to further understand the efficacy of acupressure in a wider range of frail elderly. The investigators would like to use a well-designed pragmatic randomized controlled trial (PRCT) to investigate if acupressure could help the frail elderly to improve their general quality of life

Conditions

Impaired

Keywords

Frailty; Frail elderly; Acupressure; Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change of quality of life

  questionnaire: Short Form 12 questions Health Survey version 2 (SF-12,v2), Version for Hong Kong Chinese will be used to measure the quality of life of the elderly pre-treatment and post treatment.

  Baseline, 12 weeks, 6th months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• change of sleeping quality

  Baseline, 12 weeks, 6th months

• change of blood pressure

  Baseline, 12 weeks, 6th months

• change of heart rate

  Baseline, 12 weeks, 6th months

Study Arms (2)

Acupressure Group

EXPERIMENTAL

A 15 minutes structured acupressure protocol with specific acupoints and applications technique will be performed on the elderly participants twice a week by the research team in YCHSS Homes. Designated para-medical staffs working in the elderly home or informal care giver of the elderly will be trained and perform the same acupressure protocol on the elderly at 2 additional occasions during the week. The total trial period is 12 weeks.

Other: Acupressure

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

No acupressure therapy will be provided during the study.

Interventions

Acupressure OTHER

A 15 minutes structured acupressure protocol with specific acupoints and applications technique will be performed on the elderly participants twice a week by the research team in YCHSS Homes. Designated para-medical staffs working in the elderly home or informal care giver of the elderly will be trained and perform the same acupressure protocol on the elderly at 2 additional occasions during the week. The total trial period is 12 weeks.

Also known as: Tui-na

Acupressure Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• a. Age: 65 years and older;
• b. Gender: male or female;
• c. Currently is a client served by the Residential Care services of YCHSS;
• d. Demonstrate frailty: score 5 or more in the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI);
• e. Physically fit to sit on a normal chair for 15-20 mins for acupressure treatment;
• f. Cognitively competent to understand the instruction from the practitioner and participate actively in the exercise program offered by the Residential Care of YCHSS);
• g. Cognitively competent to sign the consent form: score 6 or more in Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT, Hong Kong Version);
• h. Signed the Patient/Subject Consent Form for this study.

You may not qualify if:

• a. Who is currently receiving acupressure or acupuncture as a regular therapy;
• b. Who is decision impaired and unfit to sign the consent form;
• c. Who is suffering from one of the related contraindications for acupressure (including open sores; undiagnosed rashes; high fever; hypertensive emergence; sore and enlarged lymph nodes; the site of an injury, surgery or injection; burn wounds; skin ulcers and eczema);
• d. Who is unable to comply to the set treatment schedule (20% non compliance is allowed).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Hong Kong: lead
• Yan Chai Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 852, China

Location

Related Publications (8)

• Lee EJ, Frazier SK. The efficacy of acupressure for symptom management: a systematic review. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2011 Oct;42(4):589-603. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2011.01.007. Epub 2011 Apr 30.

  PMID: 21531533 BACKGROUND

• Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, United Nations. World Population Aging: 1950-2050. United Nation Publication, 2001.

  BACKGROUND

• Ostir GV, Ottenbacher KJ, Markides KS. Onset of frailty in older adults and the protective role of positive affect. Psychol Aging. 2004 Sep;19(3):402-8. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.19.3.402.

  PMID: 15382991 BACKGROUND

• Gobbens RJ, van Assen MA, Luijkx KG, Wijnen-Sponselee MT, Schols JM. The Tilburg Frailty Indicator: psychometric properties. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2010 Jun;11(5):344-55. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2009.11.003. Epub 2010 May 8.

  PMID: 20511102 BACKGROUND

• Pialoux T, Goyard J, Lesourd B. Screening tools for frailty in primary health care: a systematic review. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2012 Apr;12(2):189-97. doi: 10.1111/j.1447-0594.2011.00797.x. Epub 2012 Jan 10.

  PMID: 22233158 BACKGROUND

• Chu LW, Pei CKW, HoMH et al. Validation of the Abbreviated Mental Test (Hong Kong version) in the elderly medical patient. Hong Kong Med J 1995;1:207-211.

  BACKGROUND

• Lam CL, Tse EY, Gandek B. Is the standard SF-12 health survey valid and equivalent for a Chinese population? Qual Life Res. 2005 Mar;14(2):539-47. doi: 10.1007/s11136-004-0704-3.

  PMID: 15892443 BACKGROUND

• Buysse DJ, Reynolds CF 3rd, Monk TH, Berman SR, Kupfer DJ. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Res. 1989 May;28(2):193-213. doi: 10.1016/0165-1781(89)90047-4.

  PMID: 2748771 BACKGROUND

Related Links

• The International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) Project, which is in its tenth year, is translating, validating, and norming the SF-36 Health Survey for use in multinational clinical trials and other international studies.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Frailty

Interventions

Acupressure

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Therapy, Soft Tissue; Musculoskeletal Manipulations; Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics; Physical Therapy Modalities; Rehabilitation

Study Officials

• Lei Li

  The University of Hong Kong

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 11, 2015
• First Posted: July 7, 2015
• Study Start: August 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2016
• Study Completion: March 1, 2016
• Last Updated: May 12, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-05

Locations

CN (1)