An Experimental study to Assess the Effectiveness of Acupressure Upon Blood Pressure among Hypertensive Clients at selected wards of Tiruvallur District

Abstract

Hypertension is regarded as a major public health problem worldwide. The World Health report identifies blood pressure as one of the five important risk factors for cardio vascular diseases globally. Acupressure is one of the traditional methods of treatment founded by Chinese 8000 years ago. In this study it refers to application of pressure on only one point at a time in any channel in the body, selected after pulse diagnosis. Pulse diagnosis is the evaluative tool for selecting the single point which needs to be stimulated. Objectives: 1. To assess the level of blood pressure of control and experimental group of Hypertensive clients before and after Acupressure. 2. To evaluate the effectiveness of Acupressure upon blood pressure by comparing the blood pressure of Hypertensive clients before and after Acupressure. Methods and Materials: The present study was aimed to assess the effectiveness of Acupressure upon blood pressure among hypertensive clients. The framework of the study was based on Wiedenbach Helping Art of Clinical nursing theory . Ernestine Wiedenbach Helping Art of Clinical Nursing theory (1964) describes a defined situation and a way to attain it. In this study Quasi Experimental Time Series design was adopted. The study was conducted among 220 samples with 110 samples for each control and experimental group. Conclusion: Acupressure is one of the methods used in traditional Chinese medicine for the prevention and treatment of disease. It is a simple, noninvasive technique that nurses can perform independently. These findings suggest that acupressure in acu point could lower systolic and diastolic Blood Pressure in patients with hypertension. Therefore, nurses could teach patients with hypertension and their family members how to use acupressure on the acu point. Further studies are needed to establish the effectiveness of this therapy in various groups and settings. Recommendations: The study can be done for a longer duration to confirm the long term effects of Acupressure.