Auricular Acupressure Integrated With a Smartphone Application for Weight Reduction

Obesity has become a global public health problem, and its prevalence is surging in Asia. According to the Population Health Survey in 2020-22 by the Department of Health in Hong Kong, over 50% of Hong Kong general population was classified as obese (Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥ 25.0 kg/m2) or overweight (BMI ≥ 23.0 kg/m2), and central obesity was accounting for 37.8%. As the population ages, overweight and obesity become more and more serious. The incidence of metabolic syndrome is increasing yearly around the world. According to the health survey mentioned above, the prevalence of various disorders that constitute metabolic syndrome ranged from 8.5% (hyperglycaemia or diabetes) to 51.9% (raised blood cholesterol or hypercholesterolaemia). Metabolic syndrome is a collective disorder comprising abdominal obesity, abnormal blood sugar, dyslipidaemia and hypertension, which seriously affects the health of the body and cannot be ignored. Western medications currently used for weight reduction include centrally-acting appetite suppressants, blockers inhibiting intestinal fat absorption, and metabolic stimulants. Although these Western medications are effective in treating obesity, the associated adverse effects limit their clinical applications. Long-term use of weight reduction medications can cause many adverse effects in the cardiovascular system, digestive system, and liver. Bariatric surgery, such as gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy, may cause serious complications, for instance, bleeding, intestinal obstruction, anorexia, or gastric perforation. In recent years, mobile health (mHealth) has played an essential role in preventing and managing chronic diseases. In the fields of both medicine and nursing care, smartphone apps are widely used to assist in the intervention of chronic diseases. A smartphone app can remind participants to press the ear patches promptly and correctly to achieve optimum treatment effect. In addition, the smartphone app can also provide relevant health information to encourage people with obesity to change their unhealthy lifestyles. Through literature review and expert consultation, the research team selected six auricular acupoints that were found to have specific effects on weight reduction, namely Shenmen, Stomach, Endocrine, External nose (also known as "hunger point"), Large intestine, and Forehead. Not only does the smartphone app remind the participants to press on the auricular acupoints, the participants can also learn about the benefits of auricular acupressure, the locations of auricular acupoints, and the correct way of executing auricular acupressure on the smartphone app. This proposed research project aims to evaluate the efficacy of self-administered auricular acupressure integrated with a smartphone app (Version 2), a composite intervention for people with obesity accompanied with metabolic syndrome. It will be a two-arm randomised clinical trial conducted in a community setting.