The Effects of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation (TEAS) on Fatigue in Haemodialysis Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Fatigue is one of the most common symptom in End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients receiving haemodialysis treatment. In recent years, researchers investigated the role of alternative medicine methods such as acupuncture in treatment of the chronic disease; however, there is a paucity of information regarding the fatigue of haemodialysis patients. Aim: To evaluate the effects of Trans Cutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation (TEAS) on fatigue among ESRD patients receiving haemodialysis treatment. Materials and Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted over a five month, in Kermanshah-Iran haemodialysis centers in 2009. Fifty six patients who had undergone haemodialysis and meeting the inclusion criteria, were divided into two groups by simple random sampling; TEAS (28 cases) and TEAS-Sham group (28 cases). The data was gathered through the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), entered into SPSS-16 software and analysed by descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Out of 56, 38 patients (67.9%) were male and 45 (80.4%) were married. The mean and standard deviation of age were 52.29±15.26 years. The inferential tests showed no differences in the clinical and the demographic characteristics of patients among two groups (p > 0.05). The mean rank of fatigue score in TEAS and TEAS-Sham groups was 30.68 and 26.32 respectively (p=0.317) at the first of study. The results of the Mann-Whitney U-test indicated that there were significant differences between the TEAS and Sham groups after intervention (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Findings of the present study revealed that application of the TEAS on these acupoints had produced a better recovery rate of fatigue in TEAS group than Sham group after a course of ten session intervention. So, it is suggested that this plan be provided to the haemodialysis patients.

Keywords

• acupuncture
• chronic disease
• end-stage renal disease