Abstract

Background: Acupressure is a simple, non-invasive, painless method which can be complementary and alternative medicine treatment to reduce stress. Acupressure at GV-20 provides the relief of anxiety and acute stress. Aims and Objectives: Evaluate the effect of GV20 Acupressure on cardiac autonomic functional modulation using heart rate variability (HRV).
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study to investigate the use of an acupressure in acute stress reduction in adults (n = 30). Mental arithmetic stress was administered before and after acupressure. Acupressure was given at GV20 for 5 min, and HRV was measured. The collected data were analyzed for frequency domain using non- parametric method of Fast Fourier Transform, using Ku-bios HRV analysis software.
Results: All interventions were associated with the following changes, during stress after acupressure compared to stress before acupressure: Significant increase of total power (P ≤ 0.05), decrease in low frequency (LF), and increase in high frequency (HF) and decrease in LF/HF value. Changes during rest after acupressure and before acupressure are as follows: Decrease in total power, increase in LF, decrease in HF, and decrease in LF/HF but not significant (P ≥ 0.05). Conclusion: Thus, this study indicates that acupressure at GV20 was able to reduce stress in the subjects significantly. This positive finding suggests that acupressure may have a role in reducing acute psychological stress in young adults and help in improving performance.