Effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a literature review
Item
Title
Effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a literature review
Description
JASA (2020), Kim, Seonsook.
Abstract
Objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a slowly progressing morbid disease and a leading cause of mortality. Dyspnea, one of the cardinal symptoms of COPD, increases in severity as COPD progresses and is closely associated with a patient's quality of life. The World Health Organization estimates 65 million people worldwide currently suffer from moderate to severe COPD. Estimates indicate it will be ranked as the third leading cause of death by 2030. Acupuncture has been used to treat respiratory conditions for more than 2000 years. In China it is a suggested treatment for COPD; however, many literature reviews, studies, and other current evidence do not indicate a firm conclusion regarding acupuncture's efficacy and its routine use for COPD. This literature review aims to evaluate effectiveness of acupuncture to treat patients with COPD.
Methods: Three electronic databases spanning July 2017 to July 2019 were searched: PubMed, Google scholar, and EBSCO databases. Keywords used were: Acupuncture, COPD, dyspnea, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and clinically controlled case series. Forty-two primary articles found based on selection criteria and final five studies were included in this review. Methodological quality for risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.
Results: The results of the effectiveness of acupuncture show that: (1) the Borg Scale (Borg Scale is used to rate the dyspnea, high score indicates severity) score and 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) improved in the real acupuncture group compared to the control group; (2) the improvement of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV) was significant in the real acupuncture group compared to the placebo group; (3) the total score of St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) was significantly decreased, which means improvement of the Quality of Life index (QoL); (4) the 10 cm visual analogue scale for dyspnea was decreased.
Conclusion: Acupuncture may improve dyspnea and quality of life in patients with COPD. More long-term, high-quality RCTs should be performed to confirm the effective use of acupuncture for COPD.
Methods: Three electronic databases spanning July 2017 to July 2019 were searched: PubMed, Google scholar, and EBSCO databases. Keywords used were: Acupuncture, COPD, dyspnea, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and clinically controlled case series. Forty-two primary articles found based on selection criteria and final five studies were included in this review. Methodological quality for risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.
Results: The results of the effectiveness of acupuncture show that: (1) the Borg Scale (Borg Scale is used to rate the dyspnea, high score indicates severity) score and 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) improved in the real acupuncture group compared to the control group; (2) the improvement of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV) was significant in the real acupuncture group compared to the placebo group; (3) the total score of St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) was significantly decreased, which means improvement of the Quality of Life index (QoL); (4) the 10 cm visual analogue scale for dyspnea was decreased.
Conclusion: Acupuncture may improve dyspnea and quality of life in patients with COPD. More long-term, high-quality RCTs should be performed to confirm the effective use of acupuncture for COPD.
Alternative Title
JASA
Creator
Date
Language
English
issn
2377-3723
issue
2
page end
25
page start
15
volume
7