The Tapping Evidence Base
Anxiety · Other Physical Conditions

The Emotional Freedom Technique reduces the anxiety of the elderly with hypertension

Safitri, W., Dhamayanti, I., Irdianti, M., Sari, F. · Indonesian Journal of Global Health Research · 2021

Controlled trial👥 144 participants⚖️ vs. usual care (control group)Moderate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 Indonesia
In plain English. A hundred forty-four older adults with high blood pressure in an Indonesian village were split into a tapping group and a usual-care group. The tapping group's anxiety fell by a clear, statistically real margin, and it was also meaningfully lower than the comparison group's afterward. This is one of the larger Indonesian tapping trials in this cluster, and it used a real comparison group rather than before/after data alone.

What they found

144
people took part

144 elderly hypertensive adults (72 EFT, 72 control) in this Indonesian trial showed significantly greater anxiety reduction in the EFT group (Wilcoxon p=0.000) with a significant between-group difference (Mann-Whitney p=0.042).

How the study worked

Who took partElderly adults with hypertension in Sragen village, Indonesia (n=144)
What they didIn a controlled trial, a tapping group was compared against a separate comparison group.
Compared withusual care (control group)
Measured withanxiety scale

💡 Where this could help

If findings like these hold up in larger trials, the promise is simple: a low-cost, self-administered tool that could reach people struggling with anxiety who can't easily access traditional care — at home, between appointments, or where there aren't enough clinicians to go around.

🔬 What to study next

The natural next step: longer-term follow-up to see how durable the benefit is, and an active ('sham tapping') control to isolate what's doing the work.

The full record

DesignControlled trial
Participants144 people
PopulationElderly adults with hypertension in Sragen village, Indonesia
Comparison groupusual care (control group)
Outcome measuresanxiety scale
JournalIndonesian Journal of Global Health Research
Year2021
CountryIndonesia
LanguageIndonesian
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Safitri, W., Dhamayanti, I., Irdianti, M., & Sari, F. (2021). The Emotional Freedom Technique reduces the anxiety of the elderly with hypertension. Indonesian Journal of Global Health Research. https://doi.org/10.37287/ijghr.v3i4.609

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Anxiety · Other Physical Conditions

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Anxiety 144 participants WHAT THEY FOUND 144 elderly hypertensive adults (72 EFT, 72control) in this Indonesian trial showedsignificantly greater anxiety… Controlled trial · 144 participants Safitri · 2021 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com