. Mona Eidani; . Simin Montazeri; . Parvaneh Mousavi; . Mohammad Hosein Haghighizadeh; . Mahboubeh Valiani
Volume 12, Issue 11 , December 2022, , Pages 1-8
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Menopause is one of the developmental stages of women. One of the most commonproblems during this period is sleep disorders. Sleep disorders can affect the quality of life ...
Read More
BACKGROUND: Menopause is one of the developmental stages of women. One of the most commonproblems during this period is sleep disorders. Sleep disorders can affect the quality of life of thesepeople. To improve sleep disorders, auriculotherapy has received less attention due to its low costand effectiveness, and side effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect ofauriculotherapy on improving sleep quality in postmenopausal women aged 45–60 years.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study is a clinical trial study that was performed on82 postmenopausal women aged 45–60 years under the auspices of health centers in Mahshahrcity, Iran from 2021–2022. Women with inclusion criteria were randomly divided into two groups(intervention and control). The intervention group underwent auriculotherapy for 4 weeks. The St.Petersburg Sleep Quality Questionnaire was completed by both groups at the beginning and 4 weeksafter the start of the intervention. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22 andindependent t‑test, paired t‑test and Chi‑square test.RESULTS: At the beginning of the study, both groups were homogeneous in terms of demographicvariables. The results of data analysis using independent t‑test showed that before the intervention,mental quality (P = 0.513), length of incubation period (P = 0.285), sleep duration (P = 0.121), sleepefficiency (P=0.513), sleep disorders (P=0.685), use of sleeping pills (P=0.530), daily functioning(P=0.60),and overall sleep quality score (P = 0.30) in the control and intervention groups were not statisticallysignificant.However, comparing the mean scores afterthe interventionin the control and interventiongroupsshowed that mental quality (P < 0.001), incubation period (P < 0.001), sleep duration (P < 0.001), sleepefficiency (P < 0.001), sleep disorders (P < 0.001), use of hypnotics (P=0.002), daily functioning (P=0.001),overall sleep quality score (P < 0.001), sleep duration (P = 0.822), sleep efficiency (P = 0.889), sleepdisorders (P = 0.889), use of sleeping pills (P = 1.00), daily performance (P = 0.767), overall sleep qualityscore (P = 0.69) were statistically significant between the two groups. In‑group comparison using pairedt‑test in the control group showed that mental quality (P = 0128), length of the incubation period (P = 1.00),and before and afterthe intervention did not differ significantly in the mean scores. However, a within‑groupcomparison in the intervention group showed that mental quality (P < 0.001), incubation period (P < 0.001),sleep duration (P < 0.001), sleep efficiency (P < 0.001), sleep disorders (P = 0.003), use of sleepingpills (P = 0.007), daily functioning (P < 0.001), and overall sleep quality score (P < 0.001) before and afterthe intervention had a significant difference in the mean scores.CONCLUSION: The results showed that auriculotherapy has significant effectiveness in improving thequality of sleep, and its dimensions and can be used as an effective method in this area that can beimplemented at a low cost and easily. According to reports from participants and previous studies in thisfield, auriculotherapy did not have any side effects and can be used as a safe way to improve sleep quality.
