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Abstract
Introduction Considering the importance of chronic low back pain in disability in older adults, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of auriculotherapy on pain intensity and functional disability in this group.
Materials and methods This single-blind clinical trial was conducted on older adults with chronic low back pain in Kashan, Iran, 2019–2020. Seventy eligible older people were allocated to the intervention and sham groups via block randomisation. In the intervention group, pressure was applied using Varcaria seeds on the Shenmen, sympathetic, nerve subcortex and low back points. The visual analogue scale was completed at the beginning (T0), weekly (T1–T4) and 1 month after intervention (T5). Functional disability was assessed using Oswestry Disability Index at T0, T4 and T5. Data were analysed in per-protocol and intention-to-treat designs using repeated measures analysis of variance and analysis of covariance.
Results There was a significant difference between the two groups regarding disease duration (p=0.012). The interaction effect of time and intervention was significant on pain intensity and functional disability (effect size (ES)=0.858 and ES=0.789, p<0.0001). The pain intensity in the intervention group was significantly lower than in the sham group at T2–T5 (p<0.0001). The functional disability score in the intervention group was significantly lower than in the sham group at T4 and T5 (p<0.0001).
Conclusion Auriculotherapy can reduce pain intensity and functional disability in older adults with chronic low back pain; it can be used as a complementary medicine in care programmes for older adults with chronic low back pain.
- Chronic conditions
- Complementary therapy
- Methodological research
- Pain
- Symptoms and symptom management
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request. The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to the confidentiality of the information of the participants but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request. The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to the confidentiality of the information of the participants but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Footnotes
Contributors MP designed the study, collected the data and contributed to the preparation of the manuscript. ZT, KS and ZS designed the study, analysed and interpreted the data, critically revised the manuscript, and were the study supervisors. MZ designed the study, interpreted the data and contributed to the preparation of the manuscript. FZJ designed the study, collected the data, analysed the data and were the study supervisors. All the authors contributed to the review and final approval of the manuscript. ZT, as the corresponding author, is guarantor for this study.
Funding The present study was part of the master's thesis of the article's first author in geriatric nursing at Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. The Vice-Chancellor for Research and Technology of Kashan University of Medical Sciences supported financial support for this thesis (Grant number: 97207)
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer-reviewed.