This study was to examine the effects of auricular acupressure therapy on smoking cessation for female university students.

The research design was a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. Subjects were 60 (Experimental: 30, Control: 30) smoking female university students. The measuring tools were the number of cigarettes smoked per day, dependency on nicotine, and need for smoking. Auricular acupressure therapy, an experimental treatment, was applied 3 times a day, 2 days a week, for 2 weeks. Data was collected from March 2006 to October 2006. Data was analyzed using the SPSS PC+ 12 version. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, χ²-test, and Fisher's exact test were used for each aim of this study.

The number of cigarettes smoked per day (t=8.63, p=.00), dependency on nicotine (t=18.15, p=.00), and need for smoking (t=14.23, p=.00) significantly decreased in the experimental group by application of auricular acupressure therapy.

Auricular acupressure therapy can be a better effective primary nursing intervention on smoking cessation for female university students shown through studies of repetition.