The Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation on Sleep Quality in Nurses

Background: Sleep problems are one of the most common health problems in people with shift jobs. Due to being awake during night, nurses face with sleep problems, resulting in impaired cognitive functioning and professional mistakes. One of the common treatments in complementary medicine is transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of TEAS on the sleep quality in nurses working shift in Kermanshah hospitals. Methods: This study was a single-blind clinical trial conducted in Kermanshah city in 2015. The research population included 36 shift nurses working in Kermanshah hospitals. Nurse’s sleep quality was evaluated by pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaire. We used “electrical stimulating acupuncture point’s machine”. The excitatory points included SP6, LI4 and HT7. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference between Pittsburgh sleep quality index in three groups before the intervention (P 0.05). After the intervention, the sleep quality index was significantly increased in the real points group and sham points (P 0.001), (P = 0.016). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that electrical stimulation of acupuncture points can be effective in improving the overall index of sleep quality of shift work nurses. It is recommended that objective tools be used to study the effects of this method more precisely.