Acupressure in Rheumatoid Arthritis

University of Michigan

Status: Completed

Conditions: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Treatments: Device: Acupressure

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05412121

HUM00206002

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this pilot trial is to better understand if acupressure is feasible and tolerable to people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Enrollment: 14 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 25 to 75 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Patient is being treated for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) at a Rheumatology Clinic at the University of Michigan or another by rheumatologist and reports being prescribed at least one of the following medications:

• Methotrexate (Trexall, Rheumatrex)
• Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil)
• Sulfasalazine (Azulfadine)
• Leflunomide (Arava)
• Tocilizumab (Actemra)
• Tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi), including:

Adalimumab (Humira) Etanercept (Enbrel) Certolizumab pegol (Cimzia) Golimumab (Simponi) Infliximab (Remicade)

• Abatacept (Orencia)
• Tocilizumab (Actemra)
• Janus kinase inhibitor (JAKi), including:

Tofacitinib (Xeljanz) Baracitinib (Olumiant) Upadacitinib (Rinvoq)

o Rituximab (Rituxan)

Exclusion criteria

• Visual or hearing difficulties that would preclude participation,
• Do not speak or read English
• Do not have access to smart phone with access to mobile applications
• Severe psychiatric disorders including history of substance abuse disorders,
• Individuals on high doses of opioids (over 100 oral morphine equivalents)
• Taking blood thinners, including warfarin (Coumadin), dabigatran (Pradaxa), rivaroxaban (Xarelto), apixaban (Eliquis), edoxaban (Savaysa), or betrixaban (Bevyxxa)
• Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count)
• Expecting to receive surgery within the next year for their RA
• Pregnancy or breast feeding, or anticipate pregnancy in next year,
• Actively applying for disability or compensation, or actively involved in litigation.
• Anything at the discretion of the principal investigator or study team

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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14 participants in 1 patient group

Acupressure

Experimental group

Description:

The self-acupressure intervention will be delivered using the modified MeTime Acupressure mobile application (App) in addition to in-person or virtual instruction via study staff.

Treatment:

Device: Acupressure