The Clinical Research Of The Method Of "Reinforcing Earth To Strengthen Metal" In Patients With COPD On Quality Of Life

Theoretical clinical and experimental studies on the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) were made systematically in this paper.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to assess the effect of the management of "Reinforcing earth to strengthen metal" on clinical symptoms and quality of life In patients with Stageâ… : Mild COPD to Stageâ…¢: Severe COPD in stable condition, and to study the value of St George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) in evaluating the life quality of Chinese patients with COPD methods.60 patients with Mild to Severe COPD in stable condition, according to the deficiency of the qi of the lung and spleen syndrome in TCM were selected from the outpatient and inpatient. Patients were randomly assigned to the therapeutic group (group T) or to the control group (group C). The control group was treated according to GOLD.Program and the therapeutic group were treated by the compound prescriptions of "reinforcing earth to strengthen metal" as well as by the standardized GOLD program. Clinical effect was evaluated by Quality of life before and after three months treatment was compared.ResultClinical symptoms had been improved significantly in group T (P＜0.01) which has significant difference after 3 months compared with group C (P＜0.01).The quality of life- the total score of SGRQ, the symptoms section score, the activity section score, and the impacts section score had been improved significantly in group T(P＜0.01), with significantly differences after 3 month treatment compared with group C(P＜0.01).The correlation coefficients between the total score and the symptoms section score, the activity section score, and the impacts section score of SGRQ were 0.33, 0.80 and 0.96, respectively. The symptoms section score, the activity section score, the impacts section score, and the total score were significantly correlated with FEV₁%pred. The result of paired t test showed that the changes of SGRQ between the two groups were Significant (P＜0.01) and consistent with changes of clinical symptoms.ConclusionThe results indicated that the compound prescriptions of "reinforcing earth to strengthen metal" used in the therapeutic group had the better effect in reducing symptoms and improving the Quality of life of the COPD than the therapy used in the control group.SGRQ was a valid, sensitive and feasible method in measuring clinical control in patients with COPD.