Effects of auricular acupressure on obesity in women with abdominal obesity

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of auricular acupressure on reducing obesity in adult women with abdominal obesity. Methods: The study design was a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Participants were 58 women, aged 20 years or older, assigned to the experimental group (n=30) or control group (n=28). Auricular acupressure using vaccaria seeds was administered to the experimental group. The sessions continued for 8 weeks. Outcome measures included body weight, abdominal circumference, and body mass index, body fat mass, body fat percentage, triglyceride, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and serum glucose. Results: Women in the experimental group showed significant decreases in body weight (t=6.19, p <.001), abdominal circumference (t=4.01, p <.001), and body mass index (t=2.58, p =.006) after 8 weeks compared with those in the control group. Conclusion: Results show that auricular acupressure using vaccaria seeds was effective in decreasing body weight, abdominal circumference, body mass index, and triglyceride levels in adult women with abdominal obesity.