Changes in Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Following EX-HN 3 and CV 17 Acupressure Among Third-Trimester Pregnant Women at Siliwangi Health Center

Vollständiger Abstract

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The third trimester of pregnancy is accompanied by physical and psychological changes, and pregnancy-related anxiety may increase as childbirth approaches. Acupressure has been used as a non-pharmacological approach to support relaxation during pregnancy. This study aimed to examine changes in anxiety following seven consecutive days of EX-HN3 and CV17 acupressure among third-trimester pregnant women at Siliwangi Public Health Center, Garut. A pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design included 28 pregnant women who screened positive for anxiety using the 10-item Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire-Revised 2 (PRAQ-R2). Before the intervention, 24 participants (85.7%) had moderate anxiety and 4 (14.3%) had mild anxiety; after the intervention, 25 (89.3%) had mild anxiety and 3 (10.7%) had moderate anxiety. Mean total PRAQ-R2 scores decreased from 24.71 ± 1.86 before the intervention to 19.71 ± 2.02 afterward. The paired difference scores were normally distributed (Shapiro-Wilk p = 0.385), and the mean reduction was 5.00 points (95% CI 4.02–5.98; t(27) = 10.42; p < 0.001). These findings indicate a significant within-group reduction in pregnancy-related anxiety following the intervention; however, the absence of a control group precludes definitive causal attribution to acupressure alone.