• Elizabeth Monson, Diane Arney, Beth Benham, Rebekah Bird, Erika Elias, Kami Linden, Kimberly McCord, Cathy Miller, Tammy Miller, Lori Ritter, and Deanna Waggy.
• 1 Heart Failure/Transplant, Intermountain Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah.
• J Altern Complement Med. 2019 May 1; 25 (5): 517-521.

Abstract Objectives: To determine impact of an acupressure protocol on self-rated pain and anxiety scores. Design: Retrospective database analysis of self-rated pain and anxiety scores before and immediately after administration of stress release acupressure protocol. Participants: Participants include hospitalized patients, nurses, and public. Intervention: Involves a 16-point stress release acupressure protocol. Outcome measures: Outcome measures involve pre- and post-treatment self-rated pain scores (0-10) with the Wong-Baker Faces Scale and pre- and post-treatment self-rated anxiety scores (0-10) on a visual analog scale. Results: Five hundred and nineteen acupressure treatments were retrospectively analyzed with pre- and post-treatment self-rated pain and anxiety scores, where 0 represented no pain or anxiety and 10 represented the worst pain and anxiety. Overall, participants demonstrated a two-point decrease in pain scores and a four-point decrease in anxiety scores post-treatment. Hospitalized patients demonstrated a four-point decrease in pain scores and a five-point decrease in anxiety scores post-treatment. Nurses demonstrated a three-point decrease in pain scores and four-point decrease in anxiety scores post-treatment. Public population demonstrated a one-point decrease in pain scores and two-point decrease in anxiety scores post-treatment. Seventy-five percent of participants were highly satisfied with acupressure treatments, and 96% of treatments were administered in less than 30 minutes. Conclusions: Acupressure is a highly satisfactory complementary therapy that can demonstrate a clinically significant decrease in self-rated pain and anxiety scores.

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