Retrospective Study Of COPD Treatment With Acupoint Application Therapy Of "Winter Disease Treated In Summer And Winter"

Objective:To evaluate the clinical effacacy of‘Winter disease treated in Summer and winter’method combined with acupoint application therapy on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Methods:A total of 256 patients with COPD were enrolled at Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China.All patients were treated by‘Winter disease treated in Summer and winter’method combined with acupoint application and divided into 1 year treatment group（n=91）,2 year treatment group（n=85）and 3 year treatment group（n=80）.The syndrome,disease recurrence rate,TCM syndrome scores,St.George’s questionnaire（SGRQ）,CAT score,lung function of patients before and after treatment were collected and analyzed.The relationship between clinical efficacy and duration of treatment as well as the impact on quality of life was evaluated.Data were collected in the form of outpatient follow-up and telephone return visits.Results:After the treatment,the effect of≥3 years group（82.50%）were significantly superior to those of 1 year（48.35%）and 2 year group（63.53%）in terms of TCM syndrome efficacy.The≥3 year group was significantly better than the 1 year group（P<0.01）.There was no significant difference between the 2-year group and the 1-year group and≥3 years,respectively.In addition,the effect of≥3 years group were significantly superior to 1 year group in down-regulating symptom of cough,shortness of breath and shiver（P<0.01）and significantly better than 1 year group in improving cough,shortness of breath and fever（P<0.01）;Compared to the 1-year group,the 2-year group had a better improvment of the symptoms of cough and shortness of breath（P<0.05）.In terms of improving secondary symptoms:≥3 years group was significantly better than 2 years group in improving aversion to wind,fatigue and lack of strength（P<0.01）and significantly better than 1 year group in improving aversion to wind,spontaneous sweating,fatigue and lack of strength（P<0.05）.There was no significant difference in the comparison between the three groups in improving the softness of the back and legs（P>0.05）.After three groups of treatments,in reducing the number of years of acute exacerbation and the number of annual colds,the effect of≥3 years group was significantly better than that of 1 year group and 2 year group（P<0.01）;in reducing the number of annual colds,the 2 year group was better than 1 year group（P<0.05）;there was no significant difference between the 1 year group and the 2 year group in reducing the number of acute exacerbations（P>0.05）.In the St.George’s questionnaire score,St.George’s symptom score,St.George’s activity limited score,St.George’s disease impact score,the≥3 year group was significantly better than the 1 year group（P<0.01）;In the St.George’s activity-restricted score,the≥3 year group was significantly better than the 2 year group（P<0.01）,and the 2 year group was significantly better than the 1 year group（P<0.01）;There was no significant difference between the 2-year group and the 1-year group and≥3 years group in improving the impact of St.George’s disease（P>0.05）.In terms of improving CAT score,the≥3 year group was significantly better than the 1 year group（P<0.01）,and there was no significant difference between the 2 year group and the 1 year group and≥3 year group（P>0.05）.There was no significant difference in the improvement of lung function（FEV₁%,FEV₁%/FVC）among the three groups（P>0.05）.After treatment,all three groups had improved TCM syndrome scores,annual acute exacerbation times,annual colds,and CAT scores,as compared to before treatment.As compared to before treatment,both the two-year group and≥3 years group had the effect of improving the St.George questionnaire score after treatment（P<0.01）.The 1-year group had improved St.George’s activity restricted score（P<0.01）,but no difference in improving St.George’s symptom score and St.George’s disease（P>0.05）.There is no significant difference in improving lung function（FEV₁、FEV₁/FVC）in 3 groups（P>0.05）.Conclusion:‘Winter disease treated in Summer and winter’method combined with acupoint application therapy is effctive in improving the symptoms,life quality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.The best course of treatment is≥3 years.