Effect of Auricular Acupressure on Acute Pain in Nursing Home Residents with Mild Dementia: A Single-Blind, Randomized, Sham-Controlled Study

Table 1

Demographic characteristics of the two groups.

Variable	Group
	AA group (n = 103)	Sham AA group (n = 103)
Age (years)^a	81.1 ± 7.7	83.6 ± 5.3	0.243
Males^b	71 (65.1%)	76 (70%)	0.561
Nationality^a
Han	90 (87.4%)	69 (67.0%)	0.829
Other	13 (12.6%)	34 (33.0%)
Education^a
Primary school	6 (15.5%)	10 (9.7%)	0.076
Junior school	20 (19.4%)	16 (15.5%)
High school	55 (53.4%)	59 (57.3%)
Undergraduate	12 (11.6%)	18 (17.5%)
Marital status^a
Single	1 (1.0%)	0 (0)	0.660
Married	23 (22.3%)	26 (25.2%)
Divorced	6 (5.8%)	3 (2.9%)
Widowed	73 (70.9%)	74 (71.8%)
Occupation^a
Peasant	11 (10.7%)	16 (15.5%)	0.552
Worker	78 (75.7%)	76 (73.8%)
Other	14 (13.6%)	11 (10.7%)
Location of pain^a
Head or neck shoulder	10 (9.7%)	13 (11.9%)	0.979
Shoulder	5 (4.9%)	5 (4.9%)
Upper limb	7 (6.8%)	4 (3.9%)
Chest	1 (1.0%)	1 (1.0%)
Abdomen	5 (4.9%)	7 (6.8%)
Upper back	3 (2.9%)	3 (2.9%)
Lower back	5 (4.9%)	7 (6.8%)
Crotch	5 (4.9%)	7 (6.8%)
Lower limbs	60 (58.3%)	55 (53.4%)
Foot	2 (1.9%)	1 (1.0%)
Pain scores before performing the procedure (FPS-R)^a	5.19 ± 0.81	5.33 ± 0.91	0.705

Results are presented as means ± standard deviation and n (%). ^aBased on chi-square test. ^bBased on t-test.