The Effect of Auricular Acupressure on Women Psychological Distress during Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation for <i>in vitro</i> Fertilization: A Single-Blind, Randomized, and Sham-Controlled Study

There is little research on the psychological state of women in the controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) stage of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. This study explored the effect of auricular acupressure on relieving negative psychology in the women during the COH stage of IVF treatment. Infertile women were enrolled and randomly divided into three groups: control (n = 121), auricular acupressure (n = 126), and sham acupoint (n = 121). The group allocation was blinded to the participants. The auricular acupressure (AA) group selected four auricular points: Shenmen, Kidney, Endocrine, and Internal genitalia. The sham acupoint group (SA) used four irrelevant auricular points and the control group accepted only routine IVF treatment. The intervention lasted from the first day of COH until the day before transvaginal oocyte retrieval. Participants' psychological states were measured using the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) before and after auricular acupressure. IVF outcomes were followed up. There were significant increases in obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, and anxiety in the control and SA groups. Additionally, the SA group showed a higher somatization symptom score, after COH. The AA group showed decreased somatization symptom, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, and anxiety scores after COH. The AA group showed lower obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, and anxiety scores compared to those in the control and SA groups. The auricular acupressure was correlated with higher IVF success. Auricular acupressure may alleviate the psychological and emotional problems of IVF participants during the COH period.