Anxiety is a common preoperative problem in cesarean section candidates. Nonpharmacologic anxiety control has been demonstrated to be more suitable in pregnant women. The current study was a randomized, single-blind clinical trial which evaluated the effect of acupressure on preoperative C-section anxiety. In this study, 60 patients facing surgery were randomly divided into two groups of 30 patients each. Those patients in the intervention group received simultaneous acupressure at the Yintang and HE-7 acupoints for 5 minutes before surgery, and patients in the control group received intervention at a sham acupoint. The anxiety level of patients was preoperatively assessed twice using the Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The mean anxiety scores of the two groups were shown to be insignificantly different before the intervention (p = 0.859), whereas a significant difference between the mean anxiety scores of the two groups was observed after the intervention (p = 0.001), suggesting that acupressure reduced the anxiety of patients before surgery.
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Effect of Acupressure on Preoperative Cesarean Section Anxiety
1Department of Medical Surgical Nursing and Midwifery School, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran
2Department of Medical and Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Fars, Iran
3Amirkhani Mehdi School of Nursing, Fasa University of Medical Science, Fasa, Iran
4Department of Medical Education Research Center, Fasa, Iran
5School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
2018; 11(6): 361-366
Published December 1, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jams.2018.07.001
Copyright © Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute.
Related articles in JAMS

Article
Research Article
2018; 11(6): 361-366
Published online December 1, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jams.2018.07.001
Copyright © Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute.
Effect of Acupressure on Preoperative Cesarean Section Anxiety
1Department of Medical Surgical Nursing and Midwifery School, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran
2Department of Medical and Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Fars, Iran
3Amirkhani Mehdi School of Nursing, Fasa University of Medical Science, Fasa, Iran
4Department of Medical Education Research Center, Fasa, Iran
5School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Correspondence to:Faezeh Abadi
Abstract
Anxiety is a common preoperative problem in cesarean section candidates. Nonpharmacologic anxiety control has been demonstrated to be more suitable in pregnant women. The current study was a randomized, single-blind clinical trial which evaluated the effect of acupressure on preoperative C-section anxiety. In this study, 60 patients facing surgery were randomly divided into two groups of 30 patients each. Those patients in the intervention group received simultaneous acupressure at the Yintang and HE-7 acupoints for 5 minutes before surgery, and patients in the control group received intervention at a sham acupoint. The anxiety level of patients was preoperatively assessed twice using the Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The mean anxiety scores of the two groups were shown to be insignificantly different before the intervention (p = 0.859), whereas a significant difference between the mean anxiety scores of the two groups was observed after the intervention (p = 0.001), suggesting that acupressure reduced the anxiety of patients before surgery.
Keywords: acupressure, anxiety, cesarean section, preoperative anxiety