Acupuncture And Massage Patients Clinical Characteristics And Treatment Behavior

Background:Acupuncture, moxibustion and massage are important parts of traditional Chinese medicine in China. With thousands of years’ accumulation and the perfection contributed by physicians in the history, acupuncture&moxibustion and massage study has developed into an independent theoretical system. The therapies of acupuncture and massage have been widely used in clinics. Nowadays, more and more people prefer to acupuncture and massage for treatment, however, research on the choice of seeking health care by patients is rarely conducted so far.Objectives:To explore the characteristics of patients who received acupuncture and massage for treatment as well as their reasons for resorting to these two therapies.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional survey was conducted with target sample limited to patients who received acupuncture&moxibustion and massage during a defined time. Out-Patients from acupuncture&moxibustion department and massage department of Dongzhimen Hospital affiliated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine were chosen in this survey, and acupuncturists and massage practitioners would ask respondents about their use of acupuncture&moxibustion and massage according to the questionnaires on both therapies independently, the answers would be completed by doctors. Before the survey, the doctor would ask the target sample for informed consent orally. The questions began by asking about patient’s sociodemographic characteristics, chief complaints, diagnosis, treatment experience, reason why this hospital and department were chosen as well as patient’s attitude towards the side effects of acupuncture&moxibustion or massage. Access database was established to manage the data from the surveys. SPSS17.0was employed to conduct statistical analysis. Constituent ration, means, maximal and minimum value would be used for descriptive analysis. Different statistical model would be adopted for different types of data.Results:Survey in acupuncture&moxibustion department lasted from December1st,2010to June2011, and massage department from November1st,2010to April1st,2011. A total of778questionnaires from acupuncture&moxibustion department and878questionnaires from massage department were collected in Dongzhimen Hospital. In both departments; female patients were twice times more than male patients, over half patients received high education, most patients were professional technique staff. Chronic diseases were main complaints in both department, and patients’chief symptom was pain. Cervical spondylopathy, facial paralysis, acne, and sleeping problems account for the largest types of diseases in acupuncture&moxibustion department. Cervical spondylopathy, protrusion of the lumbar intervertebral disc, lumbar and spine osteoarthritis, sprain, knee osteoarthritis and scapulohumeral periarthritis account for the largest types of diseases in massage department. Most of the patients in both departments received TCM therapies in the past few years, and more than70%showed satisfaction about acupuncture and moxibustion received last year. More than half believed acupuncture and moxibustion would cure their diseases, and chose Dongzhimen Hospital for treatment through other peoples’ recommendations, propaganda in hospital, television, journals and newspapers.Conclusions:There is a prevalence trend in patients’gender, age, education and working situation relating to their seeking health care, which is similar to previous research. Chronic diseases and pains account for main complaints, and musculoskeletal, connective tissue and nerve system syndromes were chief diseases in both acupuncture&moxibustion department and massage department. Patients who received TCM treatments in the past were more likely to choose acupuncture and moxibustion, and massage, and trusted the effectiveness. It is possible to believe there is clinical effectiveness and safety of acupuncture&moxibustion and massage.