Acupressure for Cough in Lung Cancer Survivors

ConditionsLung Cancer (Diagnosis)Acupressure Coughing Symptom Cluster

Trial statusRecruiting

Trial phaseNot applicable

Trial typeInterventional

Biological sexAll

Age18+

SponsorThe University of Hong Kong

About this trial

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to examine the effect of an acupressure intervention in alleviating cough and reducing co-occurring symptoms (dyspnea, cough, and fatigue) in patients with lung cancer.

The hypotheses are:

1. Acupressure can alleviate cough in lung cancer survivors; 2. Acupressure can reduce a cough-related symptom cluster (dyspnea-cough-fatigue) experienced by lung cancer survivors; 3. Acupressure can reduce the symptom burden and improve the health-related quality of life and functional capacity of lung cancer survivors experiencing cough.

Participants will:

Receive acupressure for 8 weeks or receive an education booklet; Keep a diary of their acupressure practice and symptoms; Be assessed at baseline (T0), early intervention (T1), post-intervention (T2), and 8 weeks after the intervention period (T3).

Eligibility criteria

This trial does not accept healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

be at least 18 years of age;

have a diagnosis of LC at any stage and of any pathological type;

have a cough symptom rating ≥3 on a 0 to 10 numeric rating scale within 7 days preceding enrollment;

can perform acupressure independently in daily activities;

Disqualifiers

have unstable chronic diseases other than LC;

have received acupressure or acupuncture within the three months preceding study enrollment;

have serious illnesses or other conditions that prevent the participants from following the intervention protocols;

have a life expectancy of less than 3 months;

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

acupressure
Behavioral
Participants will perform acupressure for 8 weeks and keep practice records in a diary log. Trainers will follow up with the participants twice weekly via phone or face-to-face to assess and reinforce their practice and address acupressure-related questions.
Education
Other intervention
Participants will receive an educational booklet in the first week after the baseline assessment and complete evaluations concurrently with the experimental group. Upon study completion, they will be offered a place on a waitlist for the same acupressure intervention provided to the experimental group.

Treatment groups

80 Participants

are divided into 2 treatment groups

Group A: AcupressureExperimental treatment 1 intervention

Group B: EducationActive comparator 1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

Cough

The cough will be evaluated using the Cough Evaluation Test (CET). The 5-item instrument assesses cough under physical, psychological and social domains, with each item graded on a five-point scale, with a higher total score indicating a greater level of symptom and an MCID of 2 points.

Time frame