Analgesic comparison of Zen Shiatsu and auricular acupuncture in back pain among nursing professionals

This experimental, longitudinal study used quantitative data analysis to compare the effects of Zen Shiatsu andauricular acupuncture in reducing levels of back pain in hospital nursing staff. Data was collected in October and November 2013 at a hospital in Paraná State. Completely randomized statistical design was applied to form two groups of 20 volunteers each. Those in group 1 received a session of Zen Shiatsu and group 2, a session of auricular acupuncture. The visual analogue scale was used to measure pain level. The effects of the two interventions were compared with nonparametric statistical methods using the R statistics program for data analysis. It was concluded that auricular acupuncture and Zen Shiatsu were equally effective in reducing levels of chronic back pain. This effect continued for seven days.