School of Chinese Medicine for Post-Baccalaureate, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 84001, Taiwan.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:262039. doi: 10.1155/2013/262039. Epub 2013 Jul 18.
Background. Little research exists on acupuncture treatment's effect on patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods. Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, we conducted a cohort study to compare the use of emergency care and hospitalization in TBI patients with and without acupuncture treatment in the first year after TBI. The adjusted relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of high use of emergency care and hospitalization associated with acupuncture treatment were calculated in multivariate Poisson regression models with generalized estimating equation. Results. The means of medical visits of emergency care and hospitalization were lower in TBI patients with acupuncture treatment than in those without acupuncture treatment. After adjustment, acupuncture treatment was associated with decreased risk of high emergency care visits (beta = -0.0611, P = 0.0452) and hospitalization (beta = -0.0989, P < 0.0001). The RRs of high medical visits and expenditure for hospitalization associated with acupuncture treatment were 0.62 (95% CI = 0.50-0.76) and 0.66 (95% CI = 0.53-0.83), respectively. Conclusion. Patients with TBI who receive acupuncture treatment have reduced the use of emergency care and hospitalization in the first year after injury. The mechanisms of effects of acupuncture on TBI warrant further investigations.
关于针刺治疗对创伤性脑损伤（TBI）患者的影响的研究甚少。方法：本研究使用台湾全民健康保险研究数据库，进行了一项队列研究，以比较 TBI 患者在创伤后第一年接受和未接受针刺治疗时对急诊和住院治疗的使用情况。在多变量泊松回归模型中使用广义估计方程计算与针刺治疗相关的急诊和住院治疗高使用率的调整后相对风险（RR）和 95%置信区间（CI）。结果：与未接受针刺治疗的 TBI 患者相比，接受针刺治疗的 TBI 患者的急诊和住院医疗就诊次数的平均值较低。调整后，针刺治疗与急诊就诊高风险的降低相关（β=-0.0611，P=0.0452）和住院治疗（β=-0.0989，P<0.0001）。与针刺治疗相关的住院治疗高就诊次数和高支出的 RR 分别为 0.62（95%CI=0.50-0.76）和 0.66（95%CI=0.53-0.83）。结论：接受针刺治疗的 TBI 患者在受伤后第一年减少了急诊和住院治疗的使用。针刺对 TBI 的影响的作用机制需要进一步研究。
