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The long-term effects of auricular therapy using magnetic pearls on elderly with insomnia
L K P Suen1, T K S Wong, A W N Leung
1School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, HungHom, PR China. hslsuen@polyu.edu.hk
Objective:
To examine the long-term effect of auricular therapy using magnetic pearls administered for the elderly suffering from insomnia.
Design:
A follow-up study after a randomized controlled trial.
Settings:
Four hostels for the elderly in Hong Kong.
Interventions:
This paper focuses on reporting the long-term effect of auricular therapy using magnetic pearls in the experimental group of a randomized controlled study. Fifteen volunteer participants were followed up at 1-, 3-, and 6-month intervals after a 3-week treatment course.
Outcome Measures:
Objective sleep parameters using actigraphic monitoring were collected at different intervals of time after the therapy.
Results:
Results of RANOVA demonstrate that there was a significant difference of nocturnal sleep time (F(2.30,29.90)=3.63, P<0.05) and marginally differences of sleep efficiency (F(4,52)=2.52, P=0.05) at baseline, immediately after the therapy, and at the three time intervals at 1, 3 and 6 months. The results illustrate that the mean nocturnal sleep time (F=4.95, P=0.30, R(2)=0.91) and the mean sleep efficiency (F=13.50, P=0.19, R(2)=0.96) also remained constant over the 6-month follow up period. The results of least square polynomial regression analysis also illustrate that the mean NST (F=4.95, P=0.30, R(2)=0.91) and the mean sleep efficiency (F=13.50, P=0.19, R(2)=0.96) remained constant over the 6-month follow up period.
Conclusion:
The results of this follow up study indicate that auricular therapy using magnetic pearls could have a long-term effect, at least within the observed period of time, on improving the quality as well as the quantity of sleep among the elderly.