Effects of auricular acupressure on sleep and pain in elderly people who have osteoarthritis and live in nursing homes: A randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of auricular acupressure (AA) on sleep and pain among elderly people with osteoarthritis who live in nursing homes. Method: It was a randomized, single-blinded, and placebo-controlled comparative pretest-posttest study that applied AA for eight weeks. The study was conducted among 52 elderly people, comprising an experimental group (n=26), and a control group (n=26). Polysomnography, actigraphy, the levels of melatonin and pressure pain threshold (PPT) were measured. The standardized measurement on sleep quality and pain was also used. Results: Experimental group scores on sleep quality significantly improved as compared to those of the placebo control group. The polysomnography (sleep efficiency, sleep latency, awakening, stage 2 sleep) and the actigraphy (sleep efficiency, sleep latency, number of awakenings) were shown to be significant. The levels of melatonin significantly increased after terminating the intervention. The result of the pain (visual analogue scale) significantly reduced and the PPT significantly increased among the elderly in the experimental groups. Conclusions: AA can be used as an effective intervention to improve their sleep of the elderly living in nursing homes, and it can also reduce the pain.