Abstract

Comparison of the influence of acupressure and self-care behavior education on the severity of primary dysmenorrhea based on visual analogue scale among students

Dysmenorrhea is one of the frequently occurring problems which affect many young women’s life, and their efficiency and productivity. The aim is comparison of the effect of acupressure in two points of Guan Yuan (RN- 4) and Qiujo (RN- 2) with self-care behaviors education on severity of primary dysmenorrhea based on visual analogue scale. This is a non-randomized open-label parallel-group clinical trial. The study was conducted on 120 female students residing in dormitory who suffered from dysmenorrhea in three groups in 2014.Pressure in the acupressure group was done for 20 minutes (15 seconds pressure, 15 seconds rest) on the first two days of menstruation for two cycles. Training was conducted in four sessions and the control group received ibuprofen 400 mg for three cycles. For evaluating of pain severity, visual analog scale was applied. Paired t-test was employed to compare the means before and after the intervention. The mean and standard deviation of pain severity before and after the intervention in all three groups of acupressure and education of self-caring behavior and control before and after the intervention showed statistically meaningful differences (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference among the three groups statistically (p>0.05). Regarding the prevalence and side effects of medical methods (non-steroid anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen), it can be said that today we can equally use methods with the same effects like acupressure and education of self-caring in order to reduce the pain caused by dysmenorrhea which are available easily and with the least cost.

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