Page 88 - ITPS-7-2

INNOSC Theranostics and
Pharmacological Sciences Sujok therapy for patients with respiratory problems

of dyspnea are obesity, exercise-induced dyspnea, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas
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pregnancy, and psychological pressure such as anxiety. Gadjah Mada-Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta,
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Likewise, dyspnea is considered to be the most severe Indonesia. This study was registered for a clinical study (ID:
symptom experienced by patients with lung cancer. 9 202103010) in the research repository at Universitas Gadjah
While it may be difficult to gauge the prevalence of Mada on March 24, 2021. A research assistant was assigned
dyspnea, several studies have reported that up to 8.4% of visits to collect patient data after obtaining patient consent from
to the emergency department and 2.5% of all doctor visits all patients before the study.
require treatment for dyspnea. In addition, it was reported 2.2. Participants
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that about 30% of patients older than 65-years-old had
difficulty breathing when walking. Likewise, the prevalence The participants of this study were selected from two different
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of dyspnea is as high as 32% for those over 70 years old. 12 wards: one ward for the CG and the other for the intervention
group (IG). The inclusion criteria were oxygen saturation <
Healthcare workers are responsible for relieving the 96%, at least one breathing-related symptom (e.g., dyspnea,
symptoms of dyspnea through comprehensive management cough, excess sputum production, and chest tightness), and
of the disease, which involves identifying the cause of a grade > 2 on the Likert scale (i.e., 1 – 5; 1 = No symptoms;
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dyspnea, treating it appropriately, and optimizing the 2 = Mild symptoms; 3 = Moderate symptoms; 4 = Severe
recovery and improvement of dyspnea symptoms. 3 symptoms; and 5 = Very severe symptoms). The exclusion

Recent research has focused on alternative therapies to criteria were those who could not respond to the researcher.
treat dyspnea (e.g., fan therapy, traditional Chinese medicine Patients from these two wards were approached for
[TCM], music therapy, hypnosis, yoga, tai-chi, and Qigong), recruitment based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria,
but most of these therapies require a long duration, and and the recruitment process continued until the number
the corresponding studies lack the utilization of objective of respondents in each group reached 30. The recruitment
measurements (e.g., oxygen saturation measurement) to process was performed by members of the research team
determine the effect of therapy on dyspnea. and a lung specialist, and the patients were prospectively
considered if they had been in these wards for treatment. No
Nonetheless, the management of dyspnea is often
overlooked as compared to other potentially severe symptoms patients were excluded from the recruitment process.
of respiratory diseases, such as acute and chronic pain, which 2.3. Study procedures
could be attributed to the patients’ low likelihood of reporting
the dyspnea symptoms, as well as the complex mechanism of A Likert scale was used to measure the severity of dyspnea as
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terminal dyspnea. In addition, studies often exclude patients one of the symptoms of respiratory problems. This instrument
with dyspnea, and dyspnea is not considered an outcome was tested with five respondents to determine whether they
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in various interventions. It was also reported in a study understood the statement. Subsequently, 52 respondents
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that the palliative care team in an intensive care unit rarely were involved in the validity and reliability tests in August
consulted patients with respiratory problems. A recent case 2021 (i.e., r = 0.268 and Cronbach’s alpha = 0.65). The Likert
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study reported that Sujok therapy could remarkably reduce scale was then used to collect data from September 2021 to
dyspnea in patients with COVID-19 within 27 min, and February 2022 at a hospital in Central Java, Indonesia.
it warranted further studies with a larger sample size and During the data collection process, oxygen saturation
a more rigorous research method to validate its findings. and symptoms were measured at 0, 5, 15, and 30 min in
Herein, the present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the CG. In the IG, after oxygen saturation and symptoms
Sujok therapy to reduce dyspnea symptoms in patients with were measured at 0 min, the respondents were given Sujok
an oxygen saturation of <96%. therapy, which took approximately 3 min. Subsequently,
oxygen saturation and symptoms of respiratory problems
2. Methods were measured at 5, 15, and 30 min post-therapy. The Sujok
2.1. Study design therapy was performed as follows: 16
This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a control (i) Massage the areas marked in red and green according
group (CG) in a hospital in Indonesia. The primary and to the direction of the arrows (i.e., from inside to
secondary objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects the top, from bottom to top, and from outside to the
of Sujok therapy on the severity of dyspnea in patients and top) (Figure 1) 30 times with a roller-shaped probe
on oxygen saturation levels, respectively. This study received (Figure 2);
an ethical approval number (KE/FK/0118/EC/2021) from (ii) Color areas of the hands according to Figure 1.
the Medical and Health Research Ethics Committee of the (iii) Attach fenugreek seeds to the colored areas with tape.

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2024) 2 doi: 10.36922/itps.1418