Acupuncture for postprandial distress syndrome (APDS): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Acupuncture is effective in the treatment of postprandial distress syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Traditional Chinese medicine advocates the use of acupuncture for the treatment of postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) in people with Functional dyspepsia, but large clinical trials of acupuncture have produced controversial results. This study aims to confirm the clinical significance of acupuncture in the treatment of PDS .

METHODS

This study only randomized controlled trials were included from the following databases: CNKI, Medline, Cochrane Central, Web of Science, and Clinical Trial. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed using Revman 5.4.1 (Revman 2020), and all 12 included studies were considered to have a low risk of bias. This study used Stata 16.1 for data analysis, including sensitivity analysis and publication bias test. The quality of each study was evaluated with the Cochrane tool. The main outcomes included the overall therapeutic rate, the SID score, the HADS Score, The NDI score, and Side effects.

RESULTS

This study identified a total of 1532 studies interested in the curative effect of acupuncture on Postprandial discomfort syndrome (PDS) and finally included a total of 12 studies with 1113 patients after identifying their abstracts, titles, and full text. The process of literature searches and identifying is shown in Figure 1 and data analysis showed that acupuncture is effective in the treatment of PDS and promotes the life quality of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

This study analyzed the effects of acupuncture on PDS from 5 aspects: overall therapeutic rate, SID, HADS, NDI, and side effects, overall therapeutic rate as primary outcome measure. Statistical analysis results showed that acupuncture has a significant effect on the treatment of PDS. In conclusion, it is an effective clinical treatment method. Also, the potential bias in the included studies, high-quality studies are needed to further confirm the possible side effects of acupuncture in treatment.

Acupuncture for postprandial distress syndrome: a randomized controlled pilot trial

BACKGROUND

Evidence for treating postprandial distress syndrome with acupuncture is limited.

AIM

We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of verum acupuncture versus sham acupuncture in patients with postprandial distress syndrome.

METHODS

A total of 42 eligible patients were randomly allocated to either verum acupuncture or sham acupuncture groups in a 1:1 ratio. Each patient received 12 sessions over 4 weeks. The primary outcome was the response rate based on the overall treatment effect (OTE) 4 weeks after randomization. Secondary outcomes included dyspepsia symptom severity and adverse events.

RESULTS

In each group, 19 patients (91.5%) completed the study. Thirteen patients receiving verum acupuncture and seven patients receiving sham acupuncture were classified as responders according to OTE (61.9% vs 33.3%; rate difference 28.6%; p = 0.06). Dyspepsia symptom severity at the end of treatment also differed significantly between verum acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups (5.9 units vs 3.7 units; between-group difference 2.2 (95% CI, 0.2-4.2); p = 0.04). No serious adverse events occurred.

CONCLUSION

Four weeks of acupuncture may represent a potential treatment for postprandial distress syndrome. The treatment protocol and outcome measures used in this trial were feasible. Since this was a pilot study, the efficacy of acupuncture still needs to be determined by a larger, adequately powered trial.

Efficacy of compatible acupoints and single acupoint versus sham acupuncture for functional dyspepsia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

Acupoint selection is a key factor in the treatment of diseases and has not been well studied. The aim of this trial is to explore the differences in efficacy between compatible acupoints and a single acupoint for patients with functional dyspepsia (FD).

Methods

This randomized controlled trial will be conducted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine in China. Two hundred and sixteen FD patients will be randomly assigned to the compatible acupoints group, single acupoint group, or sham acupuncture group. This trial will include a 1-week baseline period, a 4-week treatment period, and a 4-week follow-up period. During the 4-week treatment period, patients will receive 20 sessions of acupuncture (weekly cycles of one session per day for 5 consecutive days followed by a 2-day break). The primary outcome will be a change in the Nepean Dyspepsia Life Quality Index from baseline to after the 4-week treatment period. Secondary outcome measures will include the dyspeptic symptom sum score, Overall Treatment Effect questionnaire, and 36-item Short Form survey. Adverse events also will be recorded. Ultraweak photon emission and metabolomics tests will be performed at baseline and at the end of treatment to explore the mechanisms of the differences between compatible acupoints and a single acupoint.

Discussion

The results of this trial will allow us to compare the difference in efficacy between compatible acupoints and a single acupoint. The findings from this trial will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

Trial registration

Acupuncture-Moxibustion Clinical Trial Registry, AMCTR-IPC-18000176, registered on 4 March 2019; Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1900023983, registered on 23 June 2019.

Quality of life and its influencing factors in elderly patients with functional dyspepsia in a tertiary hospital in Jinhua

BACKGROUND

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a clinically common disease that mainly occurs in middle-aged and elderly patients. It is now believed that mental factors and somatization are risk factors affecting the quality of life of elderly FD patients. Because of the uneven distribution of medical resources in China, the quality of life in elderly Chinese patients with FD is insufficiently understood. Therefore, analyzing the factors influencing their quality of life is particularly necessary.

AIM

To explore the quality of life and its influencing factors in elderly patients with FD in a tertiary hospital in Jinhua.

METHODS

A total of 134 elderly patients with FD admitted to our hospital from June 2017 to August 2019 were selected as study subjects. Quality of life scale, mental and psychological status scale, and health behavior self-efficacy scale were used for evaluations, and the factors influencing the quality of life of elderly FD patients were analyzed.

RESULTS

The total score of the Functional Digestive Disorders Quality of Life (FDDQL) questionnaire in the elderly patients with FD was 57.62 ± 8.16; the score of daily activities was least influenced (75.48 ± 7.23), while the score of healthy feeling was most seriously influenced (45.61 ± 9.57), followed by the score of disease control (47.38 ± 10.36). FDDQL scores differed significantly between patients with different genders, Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) scores, Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores, self-efficacy, drinking history, disease course, residence, symptom severity, mood self-regulation, and regular exercise (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), but did not between patients with different body mass indexes (BMI). FDDQL scores were positively correlated with gender, self-efficacy, BMI, drinking history, disease course, residence, and regular exercise (r = 0.147-0.215, P < 0.05), but negatively correlated with SAS and SDS scores, symptom severity, and mood self-regulation [r = -0.765-(-0.284), P < 0.05]. Multiple regression analysis showed that anxiety, symptom severity, disease course, self-efficacy, and depression were the factors influencing the quality of life of elderly FD patients.

CONCLUSION

There are many factors affecting the quality of life of elderly FD patients, with anxiety, severity of symptoms, course of disease, self-efficacy, and depression being important risk factors. Reasonable intervention targeting the above risk factors should be taken to improve the quality of life of these patients in clinical work.