Relaxation Acupressure Reduces Persistent Cancer-Related Fatigue

Table 1

Baseline characteristics.

	Relaxation acupressure (𝑛=14)	Low-intensity acupressure (𝑛=14)	High-intensity acupressure (𝑛=15)
Demographics
Sex 𝑛(%)
Women	14 (100.0)	13 (93.0)	15 (100.0)
Men	0 (0.0)	1 (7.0)	0 (0.0)
Age (mean years) ± SD	51.5 ± 6.7	54.4 ± 10.0	56.0 ± 9.3
Race 𝑛(%)
White	12 (86.0)	13 (93.0)	15 (100.0)
Clinical characteristics
BFI at baseline (mean ± SD)^a	5.8 ± 1.2	5.3 ± 1.7	4.4 ± 2.0
Confidence in acupressure^b	9 (64)	4 (29)	4 (27)
Cancer type 𝑛(%)^c
Breast	8 (57.0)	7 (50.0)	9 (60.0)
Uterine	1 (7.0)	2 (14.3)	1 (6.7)
Cervical	1 (7.0)	1 (7.1)	0 (0.0)
Endometrial	3 (2.0)	1 (7.1)	1 (6.7)
Ovarian	1 (7.0)	1 (7.1)	4 (26.6)
Other^d	1 (7.0)	2 (14.1)	0 (0.0)
Stage of cancer 𝑛 (%)^c
Stage 1	9 (64.3)	8 (57.1)	8 (53.0)
Stage 2	4 (28.6)	3 (21.4)	3 (20.0)
Stage 3	0 (0.0)	1 (7.1)	3 (20.0)
Stage 4	0 (0.0)	2 (14.3)	1 (7.0)
Unknown	1 (7.1)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)
Time since cancer diagnosis in months (mean ± SD)^e	37.9 ± 35.3	36.4 ± 47.6	44.6 ± 49.2
Treatments (were received)  𝑛(%)
Surgery	14 (100.0)	13 (93.0)	15 (100.0)
Chemotherapy	7 (50.0)	7 (50.0)	10 (67.0)
Radiation	8 (57.0)	10 (71.0)	10 (67.0)
Immunotherapy	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	1 (7.0)
Other	0 (0.0)	1 (7.0)	2 (13.0)

^aBFI: Brief Fatigue Inventory.
^bWhat percentage of participants were at least moderately confident that acupressure would alleviate their fatigue at the baseline visit.
^cPercentages may not add up to 100% because participants can receive multiple treatments or diagnoses.
^dMelanoma, colorectal, unknown primary.
^e“Time since Cancer Diagnosis” was calculated from on-study date and date of diagnosis in months.