Auriculoterapia contra la ansiedad en los exámenes universitarios según estudio piloto longitudinal enmascarado

Abstract

ObjectiveTo reduce anxiety levels in university students during the examination period. DesignA blinded longitudinal pilot study, no control group. Approved by the Bioethic Commission of the Extremadura University. LocationExtremadura University School of Medicine. ParticipantsInclusion criteria: Female university students, between 18 and 20 years old, written informed consent had been given. Exclusion criteria: non-indication of auriculotherapy performance, diagnostic of neurotic disease under treatment. Eighty-one subjects were included. InterventionsA single group, bilateral auriculopressure (Vaccaria, Shenmen, Myorelaxant and Heart), for 15 days. MeasurementsVariables: Age and anxiety levels measured through a visual analogue scale from 0 to 10. Participants did not know the purpose of the used technique, nor if it was fake or real Auriculotherapy. Anxiety levels were registered pretest at time zero and post-test after 15 days (when seeds were removed). ResultsAverage age: 19 years old. Data was analyzed with a statistical program SPSS 19.0. A 95% confidence interval was considered for calculating the averages. An average decrease of 1.78 points in the anxiety level was observed. This result is highly significant in student t test (P<.001) for coupled samples. ConclusionsThe use of auriculotherapy, a simple technique with no side effects, can be useful for university students, who due to a high degree of anxiety, cannot demonstrate their real knowledge during exams. It would be necessary to extend the investigation to the male population and add a control group.