Auricular acupressure combined with multimedia instruction or alone for quitting smoking in young adults: A quasi-experimental study

Background: Smoking plays a disease-related risk factor and is however the principal cause of preventable death. Many studies support the use of combined rather than single interventions to stop smoking. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of auricular acupressure combined with multimedia instruction in comparison with auricular acupressure alone on smoking cessation in young adults. Method: A quasi-experimental research design was used and participants were assigned to experimental groups according to their preference. Group 1 received the 10-week program with auricular acupressure plus multimedia instruction; Group 2 received auricular acupressure alone. Thirty-two participants were in each group were recruited from universities in Taiwan. The physical and psychological data were collected right before and after the program. Results: This study demonstrated the effects of smoking cessation on physical and psychological factors in each group. Statistical between-group differences existed in psychological factors of smoking cessation self-efficacy and nicotine dependence, but not in physical factors of carbon monoxide and cotinine. Conclusions: This study adds to the body of research on the benefits of using auricular acupressure combined with or without multimedia instruction for smoking cessation in adolescents. The combined intervention was more effective especially in increasing smoking cessation self-efficacy and decreasing nicotine dependence. Further study is suggested adding control groups such as placebo in order to understand a single effect of smoking cessation. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.