Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, DongShin University, Naju City, 58245, Republic of Korea.
Department of Nursing, Christian College of Nursing, Gwangju City, 61662, Republic of Korea.
Trials. 2021 May 12;22(1):341. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05296-4.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is generally regarded as the borderline between cognitive changes of aging and very early Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is important to develop easily available interventions to delay the progression of MCI to AD. We investigated factors contributing to the cognitive improvement effects of acupuncture to obtain data for developing optimized acupuncture treatments for MCI.
This outcome assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial included a full analysis for comparing the efficacy of different acupuncture methods. Thirty-two participants with MCI (i.e., fulfilling the Peterson diagnostic criteria for MCI, K-MMSE scores of 20-23, and MoCA-K scale scores of 0-22) were randomly assigned to basic acupuncture (BA; GV20, EX-HN1, GB20, and GV24 for 30 min), acupoint specificity (AS; adding KI3 to BA), needle duration (ND; BA for 20 min), or electroacupuncture (EA; electrical stimulation to BA) groups (n=8/group) via 1:1:1:1 allocation and administered acupuncture once daily, three times a week for 8 weeks. The measured outcomes included scores on the Korean version of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-K-cog), Korean version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale (MoCA-K), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, Korean Activities of Daily Living scale, Korean Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scale, and European Quality of Life Five Dimension Five Level Scale. Outcome measurements were recorded at baseline (week 0), intervention endpoint (week 8), and 12 weeks after intervention completion (week 20).
Twenty-five patients with MCI completed the trial (BA group, 8; AS group, 6; ND group, 5; EA group, 6). MoCA-K scores were significantly increased in the BA group compared with the ND (p=0.008, week 8-week 0) and EA groups (p=0.003, week 8-week 0; p=0.043, week 20-week 0). ADAS-K-cog scores were significantly decreased in the BA group compared with the ND group (p=0.019, week 20-week 0).
The BA group showed significant improvement in cognitive function compared to the ND and EA groups. Electrical stimulation and needle duration may contribute to the cognitive improvement effects of acupuncture in patients with MCI.
Clinical Research Information Service; URL:cris.nih.go.kr .; unique identifier: KCT0003430 (registration date: January 16, 2019).
轻度认知障碍（MCI）通常被认为是认知老化和早期阿尔茨海默病（AD）之间的界限。开发易于获得的干预措施以延缓 MCI 向 AD 的进展非常重要。我们研究了导致针刺认知改善效果的因素，以获得开发针对 MCI 的优化针刺治疗的数据。
这是一项结局评估者设盲、随机对照试验，包括比较不同针刺方法疗效的全分析。32 名 MCI 患者（即符合 MCI 的彼得森诊断标准，K-MMSE 评分为 20-23，MoCA-K 量表评分为 0-22）被随机分为基础针刺组（BA；GV20、EX-HN1、GB20 和 GV24 针刺 30 分钟）、穴位特异性组（AS；在 BA 中加入 KI3）、针持续时间组（ND；BA 针刺 20 分钟）或电针组（EA；对 BA 进行电刺激）（每组 8 人），通过 1:1:1:1 分配，并每天进行一次针刺，每周 3 次，共 8 周。测量的结果包括韩国阿尔茨海默病评估量表认知分量表（ADAS-K-cog）、韩国蒙特利尔认知评估量表（MoCA-K）、流行病学研究中心抑郁量表、韩国日常生活活动量表、韩国工具性日常生活活动量表和欧洲生活质量五维五层次量表的评分。在基线（第 0 周）、干预终点（第 8 周）和干预结束后 12 周（第 20 周）记录了结果测量。
25 名 MCI 患者完成了试验（BA 组 8 名；AS 组 6 名；ND 组 5 名；EA 组 6 名）。与 ND（p=0.008，第 8 周-第 0 周）和 EA 组（p=0.003，第 8 周-第 0 周；p=0.043，第 20 周-第 0 周）相比，BA 组的 MoCA-K 评分显著增加。与 ND 组相比，BA 组的 ADAS-K-cog 评分显著降低（p=0.019，第 20 周-第 0 周）。
与 ND 和 EA 组相比，BA 组的认知功能有显著改善。电刺激和针持续时间可能有助于针刺治疗 MCI 患者的认知改善效果。
临床研究信息服务；URL：cris.nih.go.kr.; 唯一标识符：KCT0003430（注册日期：2019 年 1 月 16 日）。
