Methods | Randomised controlled trial. | |
Participants | 97 pregnant women, 6-12 weeks’ gestation, with nausea for at least 1 week before trial entry 139 women responded to the study invitation, 97 women took part (symptoms disappeared, too ill, too late in pregnancy) |
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Interventions | Acupressure group: wristbands (with button/knob on the inside) day and night on Neigun point of both arms Placebo group: wristband (with felt patch in stead of button) identical on the outside to acupressure band 4 day run-in, 4 day intervention, 4 day follow up. |
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Outcomes | Symptoms of nausea and vomiting recorded daily - 3 recordings What problems they had: no problems, nausea, vomiting. How many hours they had suffered. Every evening an overall evaluation of their symptoms on a Visual Analogue Scale (0-5 no problems to worst thinkable level of nausea and vomiting) |
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Notes | ||
Risk of bias | ||
Item | Authors’ judgement | Description |
Adequate sequence generation? | Yes | Block randomisation in blocks of 20. |
Allocation concealment? | Unclear | Not stated. |
Blinding? Change in grade of nausea or vomiting at second visit compared to first |
Yes | A study assistant instructed the women in the use of the wristbands (investigators blinded) |
Incomplete outcome data addressed? Change in grade of nausea or vomiting at second visit compared to first |
Yes | All 97 participants reported on in results: 13 women who did not complete all of the daily forms were assigned values equivalent to the last reported value on the outcome variables |
Free of selective reporting? | Unclear | Unclear about numbers per group in results tables (%s presented) |
Free of other bias? | Yes | The authors highlight potential selection, information and performance of intervention bias - but these appear to be no greater than for other similar studies |