Effect of auriculotherapy on irritable bowel symptom severity, visceral sensitivity and subjective well-being of female college nursing students

The study was conducted to examine the effects of auriculotherapy on bowel symptom severity, visceral sensitivity, and subjective well-being in female nursing-college students with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A pretest-posttest design with a non-equivalent control group was used. Participants were 97 female students with IBS at six nursing colleges located in D. The experimental group (n = 49) received auriculotherapy for 6 weeks. To identify the effect on the experimental group’s irritable bowel symptom severity, visceral sensitivity, and subjective well-being, data were analyzed using the chi-square test, independent t-test, t-test, and repeated-measures ANOVA with the SPSS program (Version 21.0, IBM Corp, Armonk, NY). After the intervention, the experimental group showed significant improvements in irritable bowel symptom severity (p < 0.001), visceral sensitivity (p < 0.001), subjective well-being and satisfaction with life (p < 0.001), and affect balance scores (p < 0.001), as compared to the control group. Auriculotherapy was demonstrated to be effective regarding IBS severity, visceral sensitivity and subjective well-being of patients with IBS.