The Tapping Evidence Base
Anxiety · Other Physical Conditions

Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique against anxiety and psychological well-being of Type 2 DM patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Yunita Sari, R., Muhith, A., Rohmawati, R., Soleha, U., Faizah, I., Afiyah, R. K. et al. · Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences · 2021

Controlled trial👥 110 participants⚖️ vs. untreated control groupModerate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 Indonesia
In plain English. 110 people with type 2 diabetes, worried about their heightened COVID-19 risk, were split into a SEFT group and an untreated group. The SEFT group's anxiety dropped from moderate to mild and their sense of well-being rose noticeably, while the untreated group barely changed. This is a reasonably sized controlled trial in a vulnerable population during a real public health crisis.

What they found

110
people took part

Mean anxiety in the intervention group fell from 21.89 (moderate) to 10.98 (mild) while psychological well-being rose from 147.49 to 170.91; the control group showed essentially no change (p = 0.00 for the SEFT effect).

How the study worked

Who took partpatients with type 2 diabetes mellitus during the COVID-19 pandemic (n=110)
What they didIn a controlled trial, a tapping group was compared against a separate comparison group.
Compared withuntreated control group
Measured withHamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety, Ryff's Psychological Well-Being 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
Participants110 people
Populationpatients with type 2 diabetes mellitus during the COVID-19 pandemic
Comparison groupuntreated control group
Outcome measuresHamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety, Ryff's Psychological Well-Being scale
JournalOpen Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences
Year2021
CountryIndonesia
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Yunita Sari, R., Muhith, A., Rohmawati, R., Soleha, U., Faizah, I., Afiyah, R. K., & Suryadi Rahman, F. (2021). Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique against anxiety and psychological well-being of Type 2 DM patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2021.7217

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 110 participants WHAT THEY FOUND Mean anxiety in the intervention group fellfrom 21.89 (moderate) to 10.98 (mild) whilepsychological well-being rose… Controlled trial · 110 participants Yunita Sari · 2021 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com