Lee 2021.

Study characteristics
Methods	Study design: randomised controlled trial Study grouping: parallel group
Participants	Baseline characteristics Auricular acupressure (experimental) Age in years (N (% 20‐29), N (% 30‐39), N (% 40‐49)): 7 (25%), 13 (46%), 8 (29%) Sex (N (% female)): 26 (93%) Sample size: 28 Years of experience (N (% < 10), N (% 10‐19), N (% 20‐30)): 7 (25%), 17 (61%), 4 (14%) Control (placebo acupressure) Age in years (N (% 20‐29), N (% 30‐39), N (% 40‐49)): 4 (15%), 16 (62%), 6 (23%) Sex (N (% female)): 25 (96%) Sample size: 26 Years of experience (N (% < 10), N (% 10‐19), N (% 20‐30)): 10 (39%), 12 (46%), 4 (15%) Overall Age in years (N (% 20‐29), N (% 30‐39), N (% 40‐49)): 11 (20%), 29 (54%), 14 (26%) Sex (N (% female)): 51 (94%) Sample size : 54 Years of experience (N (% <10), N (% 10‐19), N (% 20‐30)): 17 (31%) 29 (54%), 8 (15%) Included criteria: Outpatient nurses who were over 20 years of age and working in a medical institution with no experience of receiving auricular acupressure. Excluded criteria: Those who were receiving complementary or alternative therapies; those taking antidepressants, anticonvulsants, or sleeping pills; and those with skin integrity problems were excluded from the study. Pretreatment: No statistically significant differences emerged between the two groups on stress, anxiety, depression, and physiological index Type of healthcare worker: Exclusively outpatient nurses Response rate: 100% Compliance rate: 90%
Interventions	Intervention characteristics Auricular acupressure (experimental) Type of the intervention: Intervention type 2 ‐ to focus one’s attention away from the experience of stress Description of the intervention: The researcher applied auricular acupressure using vaccaria seeds to one ear of each participant. The experimental group received auricular acupressure on points related to stress, anxiety, and depression (Shenmen, heart, occiput, anterior lobe). The number of sessions: 5 Duration of each session on average: 5 days (4 times a day) Duration of the entire intervention: 5 weeks Duration of the entire intervention short vs long: short Intervention deliverer: The researcher Intervention form: Individual, face‐to‐face Control (placebo acupressure) Type of the intervention: NA Description of the intervention: The researcher applied auricular acupressure using vaccaria seeds to one ear of each participant. The placebo group received auricular acupressure on points unrelated to stress, anxiety, and depression (wrist, hips, elbow, shoulder). The number of sessions: 5 Duration of each session on average: 5 days (four times a day) Duration of the entire intervention: 5 weeks Duration of the entire intervention short vs long: short Intervention deliverer: The researcher Intervention form: Individual, face‐to‐face
Outcomes	Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) Outcome type: ContinuousOutcome Reporting: Fully reported Beck Depression Inventory‐II (BDI‐II) Outcome type: ContinuousOutcome Reporting: Fully reported State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Outcome type: ContinuousOutcome Reporting: Fully reported
Identification	Sponsorship source: NR Country: South Korea Setting: A medical institution Comments: NR Authors name: Hyojung Park Institution: College of Nursing, Ewha Womans University Email: hyojungp@ewha.ac.kr Address: 52, Ewhayeodae‐gil, Seodaemun‐gu, Seoul 03760, South Korea Time period: June 2018 to August 2018
Notes	PSS included in analysis 2.1 Beck Depression Inventory‐II (BDI‐II) included in analysis 2.3
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Quote: "Participants for the experimental group and the control group were selected through randomization.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Insufficient information to understand whether intervention allocations could have been foreseen in advance of, during, enrolment.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Participants were blinded.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Participants were blinded and outcomes are self‐reported
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	54 of the 60 randomised participants included in the analyses.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	No trial registration, nor did we find one online.
Other bias	Low risk	No indication of other risk of bias.