Bmc Complem Altern M
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Bmc Complem Altern M · Oct 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial"Until the trial is complete you can't really say whether it helped you or not, can you?": exploring cancer patients' perceptions of taking part in a trial of acupressure wristbands.
Nested qualitative studies within clinical trials provide data on patients' experiences of receiving trial interventions and can inform and improve trial designs. The present study explored patients' experiences of participating in a randomised controlled trial of acupressure wristbands for chemotherapy related nausea. ⋯ Participants perceive acupressure wristbands as reducing the level of nausea and vomiting experienced during chemotherapy treatment. Reports that some participants wore wristbands inappropriately, and/or delayed completion of trial paperwork could represent confounding variables and have implications for the trial results, and the design of clinical trials within the field of cancer.