[The Effectiveness of Acupressure in Reducing Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis].

BACKGROUND: Acupressure is one of the recommended non-pharmacologic treatments for cancer-related fatigue (CRF) according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. However, few systematic review or meta-analysis studies have focused on the effect of acupressure on CRF. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of acupressure in reducing CRF and to identify the effective acupoints and frequencies of acupressure treatments. METHODS: The search and screening procedures were conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2009 guidelines. The search database included Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and Google Scholar. RoB 2.0 and ROBINS-I were used as appraisal tools. The statistical analysis, including effect size estimation, was computed using RevMan 5.4. RESULTS: Twelve studies (15 sets of data) were included in the review and analysis. Nine hundred sixty patients with cancer who were currently undergoing or had completed treatment were enrolled as participants and received different levels of acupressure. The result showed the overall effect size of CRF in reducing acupressure to be SMD= -0.77, 95% CI [-0.90, -0.65]. In the subgroup analysis, the effect size of auricular acupressure was SMD= -0.98, 95% CI [-1.25, -0.71] and the body acupressure effect size was SMD= -0.70, 95% CI [-0.84, -0.56]. CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Based on the results of this systematic review, acupressure may be applied to the body acupoints Hegu (LI4), Zusanli (ST36), and Sanyinjiao (SP6) once daily for 1-3 minutes each and to the auricular acupoints shenmen and subcortex once daily for 3 minutes each to effectively reduce cancer-related fatigue.

The effects of physical activity, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) on glucose intolerance in older people: a nationwide study from Taiwan.

We investigated the gender-specific effects of physical activity, BMI and WC on glucose intolerance in an elderly Taiwanese population (n=1344) aged 65 and above, who participated in the Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan in 1999-2000. In this cross-sectional study, physical activity was assessed using the Modified Baecke Questionnaire for Older Adults (MBQOA). Categories of physical activity level were defined by tertiles of MBQOA scores. Glucose intolerance in subjects not previously diagnosed with diabetes was categorized according to 2003 American Diabetes Association criteria. After adjustment for potential confounders, physical activity was significantly inversely associated with the presence of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in older women. In older men, the association was less clear. BMI and WC were significantly positively associated with the presence of undiagnosed diabetes in men and were significantly associated with IFG in both sexes. In older women, undiagnosed diabetes was strongly associated with increased WC, but not with BMI. Our findings highlight that older women with low physical activity or high WC, and older men with high BMI or WC are important target populations for interventions to prevent glucose intolerance.