The Effectiveness of Acupressure in Reducing Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Acupressure is one of the recommended non-pharmacologic treatments for cancer-related fatigue (CRF) according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. However, few systematic review or metaanalysis studies have focused on the effect of acupressure on CRF. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of acupressure in reducing CRF and to identify the effective acupoints and frequencies of acupressure treatments. Methods: The search and screening procedures were conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2009 guidelines. The search database included Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and Google Scholar. RoB 2.0 and ROBINS-I were used as appraisal tools. The statistical analysis, including effect size estimation, was computed using RevMan 5.4. Results: Twelve studies (15 sets of data) were included in the review and analysis. Nine hundred sixty patients with cancer who were currently undergoing or had completed treatment were enrolled as participants and receive