Effects of auricular acupressure to improve the quality of life of women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy: a randomized clinical trial

This is a randomized clinical trial with the objective of evaluating the effects of auricular acupressure on the quality of life of women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapeutic treatment and had the objective of implementing a protocol for the application of auricular acupressure in hematology and oncology of the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Paraná. The research was carried out from March 2017 until April 2018. Participants were 54 women with breast cancer who were receiving chemotherapy, aged 18 years or above, not pregnant and who were available to come weekly for auricular acupressure. Excluding those who were taking antidepressant and / or anxiolytic drugs. Twenty-seven women in the intervention group and 27 in the control or Sham group, with allocation of 1: 1 (1 intervention: 1 control or Sham pseudo-intervention) were randomized. The intervention group received the application of auricular acupressure with crystal beads in six acupoints (shenmem, kidney, stomach, cardia, brainstem and endocrine). The control group received the application of the micropore in the same acupoints. Both groups received weekly sessions during 12 weeks. Quality of life was assessed at five different times, the first being before the intervention and the next four every three weeks with questionnaires from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 and Quality of Life Questionnaire - Breast Cancer BR23. The results showed that the average age of women was 51.3 years and showed improvements in all domains related to quality of life. However the signifiers in the intervention group were in the symptom scale of the Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 for nausea and vomiting, p value = 0.0018 and in the Quality of Life Questionnaire - Breast Cancer in breast symptoms, p value = 0.00046. Atrial acupressure has proved to be a safe, effective, low-cost, no-side-effect method easily applied by nurses in outpatients and may be recommended as a complementary therapy in the treatment of breast cancer to improve QoL in these women.The result of the intervention was the elaboration of anauriculotherapy protocol for the application of auricular acupressure as a complementary treatment in patients with breast cancer diagnosis undergoing chemotherapy, treated at the research site.