ArticleJNCI cancer spectrum2018
Impact of Self-Acupressure on Co-Occurring Symptoms in Cancer Survivors.
Article in JNCI cancer spectrum, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effectiveness of Acupressure on Sleep Quality in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.Journal of clinical nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Invasive or noninvasive? A systematic review and network meta-analysis of acupuncture and acupressure to treat cancer pain.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Tumor-to-tumor metastases: systematic review and meta-analysis of 685 reported cases.Clinical & experimental metastasis · 2025Pooled it
- Self-Acupressure for Fatigue in Patients Surviving Ovarian Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Pilot randomized sham-controlled trial of self-acupressure to manage the symptom cluster of insomnia, depression, and anxiety in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2022Trial
- Impact of a combined integrative oncology and palliative care program on quality of life of patients with advanced cancer.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2021Trial
- Culturally Adapting a Video-Based Self-acupressure Intervention to Manage Symptoms for Black and Latina Breast Cancer Survivors.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- The promising application of acupressure for management of cancer-related lymphedema: A scoping review.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2025Review
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- Using Serum Metabolomic Signatures to Investigate Effects of Acupuncture on Pain-Fatigue-Sleep Disturbance in Breast Cancer Survivors.Metabolites · 2024Article
- The Feasibility and Effects of Self-Acupressure on Symptom Burden and Quality of Life in Hemodialysis Patients: A Pilot RCT.Canadian journal of kidney health and disease · 2024Article
- An Interventional Response Phenotyping Study in Chronic Low Back Pain: Protocol for a Mechanistic Randomized Controlled Trial.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2023Article
- Use of acupuncture with acupressure in addition to standard-of-care cryotherapy to decrease chemotherapy-associated neuropathy in patients with gastrointestinal malignancies receiving oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy: Study protocol for a randomized, controlled pilot and feasibility study.Contemporary clinical trials · 2023Article
- Virtual acupressure for symptom management in cancer populations during COVID-19: a retrospective analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Article
- Comparison between de novo and metachronous metastatic breast cancer: the presence of a primary tumour is not the only difference-a Dutch population-based study from 2008 to 2018.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2023Article
- Impacts of acupressure treatment on depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.World journal of psychiatry · 2022Article
- The Society for Integrative Oncology Practice Recommendations for online consultation and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Review
- Being in touch: narrative assessment of patients receiving online integrative oncology treatments during COVID-19.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCancer survivors with fatigue often experience depressive symptoms, anxiety, and pain. Previously, we reported that self-acupressure improved fatigue; however, its impact on other co-occurring symptoms and their involvement in treatment action has not been explored.
methodsChanges in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and pain were examined prior to and following two formulas of self-acupressure and usual care using linear mixed models in 288 women from a previously reported clinical trial. Participants were categorized by random assignment into one of three groups: 1) relaxing acupressure, 2) stimulating acupressure, or 3) usual care. Moderators investigated were body mass index, age, depressive symptoms, anxiety, sleep and pain, and mediators were change in these symptoms.
resultsFollowing treatment, depressive symptoms improved statistically significantly for the relaxing acupressure group (41.5%) compared with stimulating acupressure (25%) and usual care (7.7%). Both acupressure groups were associated with greater improvements in anxiety than usual care, but only relaxing acupressure was associated with greater reductions in pain severity, and only stimulating acupressure was associated with greater reductions in pain interference. There were no statistically significant moderators of sleep quality, anxiety, or depressive symptoms. Fatigue statistically significantly moderated pain, and age statistically significantly modified fatigue. Changes in depressive symptoms and sleep quality statistically significantly mediated the relationship between relaxing acupressure and usual care on fatigue; however, the effect was small.
conclusionsAcupressure was associated with greater improvements than usual care in anxiety, pain, and symptoms of depression in breast cancer survivors with troublesome fatigue. These findings warrant further evaluation in suitably controlled randomized trials.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.