Chinese herbal medicine for postpartum constipation: a protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis

Current Situation and Influencing Factors of Traditional Chinese Medicine Nursing Clinic in Henan Province

Objective

To explore the current situation and influencing factors of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) nursing clinic in Henan Province. A self-made questionnaire was made and entered into the questionnaire star. In August 2020, through "the snowball sampling method," the nursing branch of Henan Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine was used to calculate the sample size that would be further used for this study.

Results

Of the 370 medical institutions in 17 district-level cities in our province, 47 have set up TCM nursing clinics, accounting for 12.70%. From the perspective of regional distribution, there are 14 TCM nursing clinics in Zhengzhou, 8 in Luoyang, 6 in Kaifeng, 4 in Shangqiu, 3 in Jiyuan, and 3 in Zhoukou. The number of TCM nursing clinics in Jiaozuo City, Xinxiang City, Anyang City, Hebi City, Puyang City, Zhumadian City, and Nanyang City is relatively small, and there are no TCM nursing clinics in Pingdingshan City, Sanmenxia City, and Xinyang City. Among the 47 medical institutions offering TCM nursing clinics, there are 38 TCM hospitals, 5 integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine hospitals, 3 Western medicine hospitals, and 1 ethnic medicine hospital. Among them, 31 medical institutions are tertiary care hospitals and 16 are secondary care hospitals. First-class and undetermined medical institutions do not set up TCM nursing clinics. (1) Management mode: among the 47 medical institutions, 26 medical institutions have separate nursing units, which are managed by the nursing department head nurse, and 13 medical institutions are managed by the director head nurse of the department. (2) Performance management: of the 47 medical institutions that set up TCM nursing clinics, 18 adopted independent accounting, 21 adopted secondary distribution of departmental performance, and 7 adopted average awards and other methods. (3) The process of seeing a doctor: there are three kinds of medical procedures: 124 medical institutions are treated by TCM nursing outpatients by hanging the consultation number of doctors in various departments. 210 medical institutions are treated by traditional Chinese medicine nursing outpatient nurses by hanging the consultation number of traditional Chinese medicine nursing outpatient doctors. Thirty-five medical institutions are retreated by hanging the number of nurses in the nursing clinic of TCM. (4) Allocation of human resources: in the survey of the total number of nurses in TCM nursing clinics in 74 medical institutions, the largest number of nurses was 46 in one of the TCM nursing clinics. In terms of personnel qualification requirements, 43 medical institutions put forward requirements for nurses' qualifications. Among them, 39 medical institutions have requirements for nurses' professional titles, 38 medical institutions have requirements for nurses working years, and 22 medical institutions have more specific requirements for nurses. For example, nurses are required to be the backbone of TCM nursing that includes specialist nurses, nurses who graduated from TCM colleges, and nurses who have obtained hospital assessment and certification. In terms of working years, 87.96% of medical institutions require nursing service of more than 5 years. The average number of TCM nursing technical projects offered by 47 medical institutions is about 10, a maximum of 34 and a minimum of 1. The commonly carried out TCM nursing techniques include scraping, auricular point pressing, cupping, moxibustion, and ear tip bloodletting, and among all of them, scraping technology is most important and 40 medical institutions offer this technology, followed by auricular point pressing technique, cupping, and moxibustion.

Conclusion

The construction of TCM nursing clinics in Henan Province has initially formed a scale, and all kinds of medical institutions at all levels should further strengthen the construction of TCM nursing clinics in all other provinces.

Acupuncture for drooling in children with cerebral palsy: A protocol for systematic review

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study is to provide the methods used to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy for treating drooling in children with cerebral palsy.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A comprehensive search of Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, 4 Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literatures database, Wan-Fang Database and Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals will be conducted to identify randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for treating children with cerebral palsy salivation with no restriction on time or language. The primary outcome of this systematic review will be the effective rate. The risk of bias will be implemented according to Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. We will conduct the meta-analysis to synthesize the evidence for each outcome, if possible. The heterogeneity will be evaluated statistically using the χ2 test and the I2 statistic. The random-effect model will be used to provide more conservative results, if significant heterogeneity is identified (I2 > 50% or P < .10).

ETHICS/DISSEMINATION

Our findings will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and at conference meetings. It is not necessary for formal ethical approval as no primary data are collected.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

INPLASY2020110024.

Efficacy and Safety of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine for Antipsychotic-Related Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Constipation is a common but often ignored side effect of antipsychotic treatment, although it is associated with adverse outcomes. The results of the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM) in treating constipation are mixed across studies. This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the efficacy and safety of TCM compared to Western medicine (WM) in treating antipsychotic-related constipation. Methods: Major international electronic (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) and Chinese (Wanfang, WeiPu VIP, SinoMed, and CNKI) databases were searched from their inception to November 29, 2020. Meta-analysis was performed using the random-effects model. Results: Thirty RCTs with 52 arms covering 2,570 patients in the TCM group and 2,511 patients in the WM group were included. Compared with WM, TCM alone was superior regarding the moderate response rate [risk ratio (RR) = 1.165; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.096-1.238; P < 0.001], marked response rate (RR = 1.437; 95% CI: 1.267-1.692; P < 0.001), and remission rate (RR = 1.376; 95% CI: 1.180-1.606; P < 0.001) for constipation, while it was significantly associated with lower risk of rash (RR = 0.081; 95% CI: 0.019-0.342; P = 0.001). For the moderate response rate, meta-regression analyses revealed that publication year (β = -0.007, P = 0.0007) and Jadad score (β = 0.067, P < 0.001) significantly moderated the results. For the remission rate, subgroup and meta-regression analyses revealed that the geographical region (P = 0.003), inpatient status (P = 0.035), and trial duration (β = 0.009, P = 0.013) significantly moderated the results. Conclusions: The efficacy of TCM for antipsychotic-related constipation appeared to be greater compared to WM, while certain side effects of TCM, such as rash, were less frequent.

Effects of a health education program targeted to Chinese women adhering to their cultural practice of doing the month: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

"Doing the month" is a prevalent Chinese postpartum custom which is believed to restore health after delivery. However, some traditional practices are potentially harmful for women's health.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the effect of an evidence-based health education program on Chinese postpartum women's adherence to traditional practices of doing the month and the effect of adherence to doing the month on maternal physiological and psychological health.

METHODS

A randomized controlled trial was conducted. During December 2016-July 2017, we recruited postpartum women at a tertiary hospital. Women randomized to the intervention group received evidence-based health education within 1 week after returning home and received a second visit 1 month later. The control group received routine postpartum home visits. Adherence to doing the month was measured by the Adherence to Doing-the-Month Practices questionnaire (ADP). Maternal physical health was measured by the Chair Stand Test and Postpartum Symptom Checklist. Maternal psychological health was measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Descriptive statistics, t-test, and chi-squared test were used to analyze the differences in scores and symptoms of the two groups.

RESULTS

We recruited 124 eligible postpartum women and 108 of them (54 intervention group, 54 control group) completed this study. The ADP score of the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group (p < 0.001). The number of participants in the experimental group with poor appetite and indigestion was significantly lower than that of control group. No significant differences were found in numbers of symptoms and average EPDS scores between the 2 study groups (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence-based health education can reduce postpartum women's adherence to some traditional practices of doing the month and improve women's physical health.