A Quasi-Experimental Study on Effectiveness of Acupressure Therapy on Haemoglobin Level among Anaemic Adolescent Girls in Selected Nursing Colleges, Hoshiarpur, Punjab

Background: Anaemia is one of the most common nutritional problems in many parts of the world among adolescent girls, especially in developing countries. The fundamental health issue of anaemia has not been solved and continues to effect the health, quality of life, and working capacity of billions of people all over the world. Various medical and complementary therapies are available to prevent and treat anaemia. Acupressure therapy is one that has significant effects on human blood and iron absorption due to its capacity to improve the flow of qi to the liver, which stores blood and maintains a properly balanced flow of blood throughout the body. Aim: The aim of study was to assess effectiveness of acupressure therapy on haemoglobin level among anaemic adolescent girls. Design: A quasi-experimental pretest posttest control group research design was used to assess the effectiveness of acupressure therapy on haemoglobin level among anaemic adolescent girls. Material & methods: The study consisted of 60 anaemic adolescent girls, 30 each in experimental and control group selected by non-probability purposive sampling technique. Sahli’s haemoglobinometer was used to measure the haemoglobin level of adolescent girls. Analysis was done by both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings: Findings showed that according to haemoglobin level assessment in experimental group, 90% adolescent girls had moderate anaemia and 10% had mild anaemia, whereas in control group, 96.6% had moderate anaemia and 3.3% had mild anaemia. Conclusion: Thus, the study concluded that the difference between mean pretest and posttest haemoglobin level was found statistically significant at p < 0.05 level among adolescent girls in experimental group. Hence, research hypothesis was accepted and it revealed that there was impact of acupressure therapy on haemoglobin level among anaemic adolescent girls in experimental group.