Acupressure as a Non-Pharmacological Intervention for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Acupressure is a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatment using fingertips to stimulate acu-points on the skin. Although suggested to improve cognitive function, acupressure has not been previously investigated with a controlled design in traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors, who could particularly benefit from a non-pharmacological intervention for cognitive impairment. A randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind design assessed the effects of acupressure (eight treatments over 4 weeks) on cognitive impairment and state of being following TBI, including assessment of event-related potentials (ERPs) during Stroop and auditory oddball tasks. It was hypothesized that active acupressure treatments would confer greater cognitive im-provement than placebo treatments, perhaps because of enhanced relaxation response induction and resulting stress reduction. Significant treatment effects were found comparing pre- to post-treatment change between groups. During the Stroop task, the active-treatment group showed greater reduction in both P300 latency ( p 0.010, partial Z2 0.26) and amplitude ( p 0.011, partial Z2 0.26), as well as a reduced Stroop effect on accuracy ( p 0.008, partial Z2 0.21) than did the placebo group. Additionally, the active-treatment group improved more than did the placebo group on the digit span test ( p 0.043, Cohen’s d 0.68). Together, these results suggest an enhancement in working memory function associated with active treatments. Because acu-pressure emphasizes self-care and can be taught to novice individuals, it warrants further study as an adjunct treatment for TBI. Key words: ERPs; neuropsychological assessment; oddball task; placebo-controlled; Stroop tas