Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37706457›Full record

Trial reportIntegrative cancer therapies

Nurse-Administered Auricular Point Acupressure for Cancer-Related Pain.

Barb Van de Castle, Nada Lukkahatai, Bsn Lynn Billing, Xinran Huang, Hulin Wu, Jingyu Zhang, Salahadin Abdi, Jun Kameoka, Thomas J Smith

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Integrative cancer therapies. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04040140 (Integrating Auricular Point Acupressure Into Real-world Nursing Practice to Manage Cancer-related Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.6field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT04040140 naterminatednot on this map

Integrating Auricular Point Acupressure Into Real-world Nursing Practice to Manage Cancer-related Pain

TypeinterventionalSponsorJohns Hopkins UniversityRan2019 to 2021Enrolled31ConditionsCancer-related Pain, AcupressureArmsAPA Treatment
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Effect of acupuncture on fatigue in cancer survivors with chronic pain: a secondary analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Application of auriculotherapy in cancer-related fatigue symptom cluster: a scoping review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Barb Van de CastleUniversity of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Nada LukkahataiJohns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3820-1812
Bsn Lynn BillingJohns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Xinran HuangThe University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA.
Hulin WuThe University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA.
Jingyu ZhangJohns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Salahadin AbdiThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Jun KameokaWaseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
Thomas J SmithJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Johns Hopkins University · USThe University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston · USJohns Hopkins Hospital · USThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center · USUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore · USWaseda University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe study aimed to (1) examine the feasibility of providing a training course on auricular point acupressure (APA) for clinical oncology nurses to integrate APA into real-world nursing care settings, and (2) examine the effectiveness of APA on cancer-related pain (CRP) under usual inpatient oncology ward conditions.

methodsThis was a 2-phase feasibility study. Phase 1, an in-person, 8 hour training program was provided to oncology nurses. Phase 2, a prospective and feasibility study was conducted to evaluate the integration of APA into nursing care activities to manage CRP. Oncology patients were included if their pain was rated at ≥4 on a 0 to 10 numeric rating scale in the past 24 hours. Patients received 1 APA treatment administered by the nurses and were instructed to stimulate the points for 3 days. Study outcomes (pain intensity, fatigue, and sleep disturbance), pain medication use, and APA practice were measured by a phone survey daily.

resultsTen oncology nurses received APA training in phase 1. APA had been added to the hospital's electronic health records (EHRs) as a pain treatment. In phase 2, 33 oncology patients received APA treatment with a 100% adherence rate (pressing the seeds 3 times per day, 3 minutes per time based on the suggestion). The side effects of APA were minimal (~8%-12% felt tenderness on the ear). After 3 days of APA, patients reported 38% pain relief, 39% less fatigue, and 45% improvement in sleep disturbance; 24% reduced any type of pain medication use and 19% reduced opioid use (10 mg opioids using milligram morphine equivalent). The major barrier to integrating APA into routine nursing practice was time management (how to include APA in a daily workflow).

conclusionIt is feasible to provide 8-hour training to oncology nurses for mastering APA skill and then integrating APA into their daily nursing care for patients with CRP. Based on the promising findings (decreased pain, improved fatigue and sleep disturbance, and less opioid use), the next step is to conduct a randomized clinical trial with a larger sample to confirm the efficacy of APA for oncology nurses to treat CRP in real-world practice.ClinicalTrial.gov identifier number: NCT04040140.

Indexed as

AcupressureCancer PainNeoplasmsAnalgesics, OpioidFatigueFeasibility StudiesHumansProspective StudiesTreatment OutcomeAnalgesics, Opioidauricular acupressurecancercancer-related-painnursingpain

Identifiers

PMID37706457
PMCPMC10503282
OpenAlexW4386725792

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.