Instituto de Medicina Integrativa, Rua Afonso Duarte nº10 A, 3030-402, Coimbra, Portugal.
Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, Avenida Bissaya Barreto (Polo A), Apartado 7001, 3046-851, Coimbra, Portugal.
Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2018 May;31:215-219. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.02.016. Epub 2018 Mar 1.
Anxiety disorders are a current public health issue, as an estimated 16.5% of the Portuguese population suffers from this condition. The goal of this descriptive study was to analyze the efficiency of the treatment of integrative medicine (acupuncture and therapeutic massage) to reduce anxiety disorders and to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of Integrative Medicine Institute (IMI) patients. To this end, a documental analysis from the data base of the clinical reports of IMI was performed, with the approval of the Ethics Committee of the Health Sciences Research Unit with informed consents being signed by all patients. Between January and August 2017, 259 IMI patients were treated. Of these, 30,5% had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Ten sessions of Integrative Medicine (IM) using acupuncture techniques combined with therapeutic massage were applied. Each session consisted of an initial treatment of acupuncture for 30 min, followed by a therapeutic massage for another 30 min. Before starting all 10 treatments, anxiety levels were measured by a self-perception 5 points scale. Anxiety levels were also assessed at the end of the 5th and the 10th treatment. It was found that 75.29% of the patients looking for IM were female and 34.4% were professionals working in intellectual and scientific activities. Patients taking anxiolytic medication presented higher levels of anxiety in comparison with non-medicated ones (p = 0.000). After a maximum of ten treatments (acupuncture combined with massage), the levels of anxiety were reduced (98.39% after five sessions). Women at their tenth treatment reached lower anxiety levels than those of men. The therapies used are proved to be efficient and can be used as a complementary care to treat and relief the symptoms of anxiety disorders. This research is the basis for designing a future randomized control trial study of acupuncture efficiency in the treatment of anxiety disorders.
焦虑症是当前的一个公共卫生问题，据估计，葡萄牙有 16.5%的人口患有这种疾病。本描述性研究的目的是分析综合医学（针灸和治疗性按摩）治疗焦虑症的效果，并描述综合医学研究所（IMI）患者的社会人口学特征。为此，对 IMI 临床报告数据库进行了文献分析，并获得了健康科学研究单位伦理委员会的批准，所有患者均签署了知情同意书。2017 年 1 月至 8 月期间，有 259 名 IMI 患者接受了治疗。其中，30.5%的患者被诊断为焦虑症。采用针灸技术结合治疗性按摩的 10 次综合医学（IM）治疗。每次治疗包括 30 分钟的初始针灸治疗，然后进行 30 分钟的治疗性按摩。在开始所有 10 次治疗之前，使用自我感知 5 分制量表评估焦虑水平。在第 5 次和第 10 次治疗结束时也评估了焦虑水平。结果发现，75.29%寻求 IM 治疗的患者为女性，34.4%为从事知识和科学活动的专业人员。服用抗焦虑药物的患者焦虑水平高于未服用药物的患者（p=0.000）。经过最多 10 次治疗（针灸结合按摩），焦虑水平降低（5 次治疗后 98.39%）。接受第 10 次治疗的女性焦虑水平低于男性。研究证明，所使用的疗法是有效的，可以作为一种补充护理，用于治疗和缓解焦虑症的症状。本研究为未来针刺治疗焦虑症的随机对照试验研究提供了基础。
