Effect of acupuncture on patients with post-stroke infection rate: A retrospective cohort study

• Main Authors: I-Ju Lin, 林怡如
• Other Authors: Ching-Liang Hsieh
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/6r9e2d

碩士 === 中國醫藥大學 === 針灸研究所碩士班 === 105 === Background：Stroke is a major cause of disability and death worldwide. Although the mortality rates of stroke have declined, the burden of stroke care has shown an upward trend. Complications are known to be common in stroke patients, especially infections, which can hinder functional recovery and are associated with higher mortality rates. When it mentions to the prevention of infection after stroke, it is much preferred to control the inflammation reaction and strengthen the immunity compared with using preventive antibiotics. Acupuncture has been used as the assistant treatment for functional impairment after stroke for a long time. Some studies have showed acupuncture could prevent or treat infection by regulating immune system. However, the sample size is usually small. Therefore, this research aims to study the correlation between acupuncture and the protection effect of post-stroke infection. Methods：Using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000, we selected the newly stroke patients with who received at least 6 sessions of acupuncture treatment as our treatment group. Frequency match method was applied to select those who never or received less than 6 sessions of acupuncture as the control group. We compared the infection rate after stroke of two cohorts. Results：The result indicates that the treatment group has a significant lower risk of getting infected after stroke (adjusted HR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.25-0.45). There is a significant lower cumulative incidence of infection disease of acupuncture cohort compared with the control cohort (p<0.001). Conclusions：Based on the results of the present study, suggesting acupuncture treatment can reduce the infection rate in post-stroke patients. However, further study is need in the future.