College of Health Professions, Pace University, New York, New York, USA.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
J Integr Complement Med. 2023 Aug;29(8):510-517. doi: 10.1089/jicm.2022.0700. Epub 2023 Mar 9.
The objective of this study was to examine the prescribing of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) by licensed acupuncturists in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 28-question survey with nine branching questions was disseminated through collegial networks, paid advertisements, and a study website in April-July 2021. Participants indicated that they were licensed acupuncturists who treated more than five patients for symptoms likely related to COVID-19 to gain entry to the full survey. Surveys were undertaken electronically through the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system. The survey was undertaken by 103 participants representing all US geographic regions and had an average of 17 years in practice. Sixty-five percent received or intended to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Phone and videoconference were the predominant methods of patient contact; granules and pill forms of CHM were the most prescribed. A wide variety of information sources were used in devising patient treatments inclusive of anecdotal, observational, and scientific sources. Most patients were not receiving biomedical treatment. Ninety-seven percent of participants reported that they had no patients die of COVID-19, and the majority reported that <25% of their patients developed long hauler syndrome (post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection). : This study demonstrates that licensed acupuncturists were treating COVID-19 infected individuals in the United States during the early stages of the pandemic, and for many such patients this was the only therapeutic intervention they had access to from a licensed health care provider. Information disseminated from China through collegial networks, along with published sources including scientific studies, informed the approach to treatment. This study provides insight into an unusual circumstance in which clinicians needed to establish evidence-based approaches to the treatment of a new disease during a public health emergency.
这项研究的目的是考察美国持照针灸师在 COVID-19 大流行期间开中药（CHM）的情况。2021 年 4 月至 7 月，通过同行网络、付费广告和研究网站发布了一份包含九个分支问题的 28 个问题的调查。参与者表示，他们是持照针灸师，治疗了 5 名以上因 COVID-19 相关症状而就诊的患者，才有资格参加完整的调查。通过 Research Electronic Data Capture（REDCap）系统进行电子调查。共有 103 名参与者参加了这项调查，他们代表了美国所有的地理区域，平均行医时间为 17 年。65%的人接受或打算接受 COVID-19 疫苗。电话和视频会议是患者联系的主要方式；CHM 的颗粒剂和丸剂是最常开的处方。在制定患者治疗方案时，使用了各种信息来源，包括轶事、观察性和科学来源。大多数患者没有接受生物医学治疗。97%的参与者报告说他们没有 COVID-19 患者死亡，大多数报告说他们的患者中只有<25%出现长新冠（SARS-CoV-2 感染后急性后遗症）。本研究表明，在大流行早期，持照针灸师在美国治疗 COVID-19 感染者，对于许多这样的患者来说，这是他们从持照医疗保健提供者那里获得的唯一治疗干预措施。通过同行网络传播的来自中国的信息，以及包括科学研究在内的已发表来源，为治疗方法提供了信息。这项研究提供了一个独特的情况的见解，在这种情况下，临床医生需要在公共卫生紧急情况下为一种新疾病建立基于证据的治疗方法。
