Self-Administered Relaxing Acupressure to Reduce Fatigue in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors

May 26, 2026 updated by: University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center

A Pilot Study of Self-Administered Acupressure for Fatigue Among Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Survivors

This clinical trial tests the feasibility of self-administered relaxing acupressure on fatigue in adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors. Acupressure, a type of complementary or alternative medicine, is the application of pressure or localized massage to specific sites on the body to control symptoms. Relaxing acupressure has been shown to improve cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in adults, however, less is known about the impact of relaxing acupressure on CRF in AYA cancer survivors."

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. Determine the feasibility of implementing a randomized controlled trial of a six-week, self-administered relaxing acupressure intervention in AYA cancer survivors with clinically relevant CRF.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:

I. Explore participants' perspectives of acceptability and satisfaction with the six-week acupressure interventions using semi-structured interviews.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVE:

I. Determine the preliminary efficacy of a six-week, virtual, self-administered relaxing acupressure intervention on clinically significant changes in CRF in post-treatment AYA cancer survivors.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM I: Patients receive access to an acupressure mobile application and self-administer relaxing acupressure to 9 acupoints over 27 minutes once daily (QD) for 6 weeks.

ARM II: Patients receive access to an acupressure mobile application and self-administer sham acupressure to non-acupressure point locations over 27 minutes QD for 6 weeks.

Enrollment was increased to 45.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

42

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Michigan
      • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109
        • University Of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 15 - 39 years old
  • At least three months post cancer treatment (e.g., surgery, radiation or chemotherapy). Participants receiving maintenance hormonal or targeted therapies will be allowed to enroll as determined by the study investigator
  • Report clinically relevant fatigue in the past seven days (Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information Systems [PROMIS] Fatigue 4a scores ≥ 55)
  • Speak / read English
  • CRF started at or after the diagnosis of cancer
  • Completed cancer treatment within the past five years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of untreated anemia, mood disorder, or hypothyroidism
  • Plan to begin new pharmacological, psychological, or other treatments (i.e., physical therapy or dietary supplements) for CRF during the study. Although, participants may continue usual treatments for CRF if the treatments were initiated at least eight weeks prior to study enrollment, and the dose has not changed
  • Plan to become pregnant or lactating during the study period
  • Received acupressure or acupuncture in the past year

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ARM I (relaxing acupressure)
Patients receive access to acupressure mobile application and self-administer relaxing acupressure to 9 acupoints over 27 minutes QD for 6 weeks.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Interview
Ancillary studies
Procedure: Acupressure Therapy
Self-administer relaxing acupressure
Other Names:
  • Acupressure
  • Ischemic Compression
Procedure: Acupressure Therapy
Self-administer sham acupressure
Other Names:
  • Acupressure
  • Ischemic Compression
Other: Internet-Based Intervention
Receive access to acupressure mobile app
Placebo Comparator: ARM II (sham acupressure)
Patients receive access to acupressure mobile application and self-administer sham acupressure to non-acupressure point locations over 27 minutes QD for 6 weeks.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Interview
Ancillary studies
Procedure: Acupressure Therapy
Self-administer relaxing acupressure
Other Names:
  • Acupressure
  • Ischemic Compression
Procedure: Acupressure Therapy
Self-administer sham acupressure
Other Names:
  • Acupressure
  • Ischemic Compression
Other: Internet-Based Intervention
Receive access to acupressure mobile app

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Recruitment Rate
Time Frame: 1 year
Self-administered acupressure implementation will be feasible if all participants are recruited over 2 years. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize recruitment rate.
1 year
Number of Participants With Adherence
Time Frame: At 6 weeks
Self-administered acupressure implementation will be feasible if 60% of participants complete the baseline and 6-week patient-reported measures and if 60% of acupressure group participants self-report acupressure practice for at least 27 minutes on at least 3 days per week. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize adherence.
At 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Fatigue
Time Frame: baseline, 6 weeks, and 10 weeks after starting treatment
Measured using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information Systems Fatigue 4a questionnaire. Results are continuously scaled and appropriately analyzed by Gaussian-based statistical models. Change in fatigue will be analyzed using a Full Information Maximum Likelihood mixed-effects linear regression model. Specifically, change from baseline will be evaluated by including fixed-effects coefficients for time, treatment, and the important interaction effects that will determine whether changes from baseline are greater in the relaxing acupressure group, relative to controls. Random Y-intercepts in the model will be incorporated to accommodate the nesting of repeated observations within subject. Change in fatigue will be analyzed using a Full Information Maximum Likelihood mixed-effects linear regression model. Range score is 30-80 and increasing scores indicate worse symptoms.
baseline, 6 weeks, and 10 weeks after starting treatment
Acceptability E - Scale
Time Frame: 6 weeks after starting treatment
Interview data will be analyzed using inductive content analysis. Perspectives of the intervention will be analyzed using inductive content analysis. (1 - 5, higher scores = greater acceptability) from the Acceptability E-Scale (Tariman et al., 2011) applies to all rows listed
6 weeks after starting treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Robert Knoerl, University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 22, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

December 22, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 30, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 30, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 23, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 26, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UMCC 2024.016
  • NCI-2024-03772 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))
  • HUM00248915 (Other Identifier: University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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