Effects of ear points' pressing on parameters related to obesity in non-obese healthy and obese volunteers.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ear points' pressing at ear meridian points on the following obesity-related parameters: body weight; body fat; body-mass index; waist; hip circumference (HC); and waist circumference (WC)/HC ratio between two groups of subjects, nonobese healthy and obese volunteers.


METHODS
The study was an open-parallel randomized controlled trial and the sample consisted of 31 nonobese healthy (BMI < 27 kg/m(2)) volunteers and 7 obese (BMI > or = 27 kg/m(2)) volunteers who were randomly divided into two groups. In the treatment group, ear points' pressing at 5 ear meridian points was applied, while volunteers in the control group did not receive any intervention. At baseline and each week of the 9-week study, the outcomes mentioned above were examined in all volunteers.


RESULTS
There was a statistically significant drop in WC and HC during the 9-week treatment in the treatment and the control group in the healthy volunteers. In the treatment group, WC decreased from 77.63 +/- 11.95 cm to 75.06 +/- 12.21 cm (p = 0.005) and HC dropped from 99.10 +/- 9.46 cm to 96.75 +/- 11.35 cm (p = 0.005). In the control group, WC decreased from 77.51 +/- 11.96 cm to 75.23 +/- 10.76 cm (p = 0.001) and HC dropped from 99.70 +/- 7.72 cm to 97.66 +/- 8.39 cm (p = 0.002). Then, when a subgroup analysis in healthy and obese volunteers was performed, it produced. It showed the same result-a statistically significant drop in WC and HC in healthy volunteers, while no significant drop was found in obese volunteers.


CONCLUSIONS
Even though the result showed a statistically significant drop in WC and HC during the 9-week treatment in both the treatment and control groups of healthy volunteers, there was no statistically significant change in outcomes in the obese group. Further studies are needed to detect the effect of ear points' pressing by increasing sample sizes and conducting randomized control trials with both healthy and obese volunteers.
Yeh
Ching-Hui
CH
Department of Family Medicine, Zuoying Armed Force General Hospital, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan. fmhanna.ealone@msa.hinet.net
Yeh
Shu-Chuan Jennifer
SC
D019050:Acupressure / Q000379:methods*; D020831:Acupuncture, Ear; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D012016:Reference Values; D012107:Research Design; D018401:Sample Size; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss