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- Landgren, Kajsa
(author)
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Ear acupuncture as an adjunct in a treatment protocol for anorexia nervosa : utilization rate and nurses’ experience
- 2022
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In: Acupuncture in Medicine. - : SAGE Publications. - 0964-5284 .- 1759-9873. ; 40:4, s. 322-332
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a life-threatening illness. Sometimes long inpatient treatment is necessary, increasing the anxiety that comes with hospitalization and the necessary weight gain. Safe, non-pharmacological adjunctive therapies that improve subjective health are called for. Objective: The aim of this non-randomized, mixed-methods observational study was to describe the utilization rate and nurses’ experiences of ear acupuncture in a highly specialized clinic for eating disorders in Sweden, in which acupuncture had been implemented as part of routine clinical care. Twenty-five patients with AN-treated voluntarily or by law were included. The semi-standardized National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) ear acupuncture protocol, sometimes combined with needling at 2 traditional acupuncture point locations on the body, had been implemented as a voluntary adjunct to usual care, twice weekly. To evaluate the acceptance of acupuncture, the study examined how often patients chose acupuncture when offered on schedule, and how often they asked for extra acupuncture sessions. Patients rated their subjective health using the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and visual analogue scale (VAS), treatment satisfaction with usual care and acupuncture, and health-related quality of life with the RAND36 instrument. A credibility/expectancy questionnaire (CEQ) was used to measure confidence in treatment. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated to follow the patients’ recovery. Nurses’ experiences of giving acupuncture as a part of routine care were captured in interviews, and analysed with content analysis. Ethical approval was obtained. Results: Despite an initially moderate level of trust in acupuncture, the utilization rate of the scheduled acupuncture was 89% and patients asked for extra acupuncture sessions on 28 occasions. No serious side effects were reported. Nurses’ experiences of providing acupuncture were positive. They were generally enthusiastic, although they reported finding it difficult to organize group treatments and to find time for acupuncture sessions if they were not scheduled. Conclusion: Further research into the effectiveness and costs of acupuncture in psychiatric care is needed. This study provides relevant information for clinicians as well as researchers planning future randomized controlled trials.
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| 2. |
- Landgren, Kajsa, et al.
(author)
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The effect of two types of minimal acupuncture on stooling, sleeping and feeding in infants with colic : secondary analysis of a multicentre RCT in Sweden (ACU-COL)
- 2021
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In: Acupuncture in Medicine. - : SAGE Publications. - 0964-5284 .- 1759-9873. ; 39:2, s. 106-115
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Evidence for the effect of minimal acupuncture in infants with colic is limited. Aim: To compare the effect of standardized minimal acupuncture, individualized acupuncture (where traditional acupuncture points were chosen according to the infant’s symptoms) and no acupuncture on objective measures of stooling, feeding and sleeping in infants with colic (based on diaries) and perceived changes in these parameters (based on parental questionnaires). Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a multicentre randomized controlled three-armed trial conducted in four counties in Sweden between January 2013 and May 2015 (ACU-COL). The effect on crying has already been published and showed a decrease in crying time for the acupuncture groups. Infants, 2–8 weeks old, who cried and fussed for more than 3 h/day for more than 3 days/week, and thereby fulfilled the criteria for infantile colic, received four extra visits to their ordinary child health centre. The infants (n = 147) were randomly allocated via a computer-generated list to standardized minimal acupuncture at LI4 for 5 s (group A, n = 48), semi-standardized individual acupuncture with a maximum of five insertions for up to 30 s (group B, n = 49), or no acupuncture (group C, n = 48). The parents and the ordinary staff were blinded. Data were collected using: (1) diaries at baseline, during the two intervention weeks and 1-week follow-up; and (2) questionnaires with quantitative and qualitative components used at the second and fourth visits and during a follow-up telephone call. Outcomes were the changes in frequency of stooling and in hours of sleep per day. Results: There were no differences between groups for stooling, feeding, or sleeping at any time point according to data from the diaries. At the follow-up phone call, more parents in groups A and B (compared to group C) perceived that feeding and sleep had changed and that the symptoms of colic had improved.
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| 3. |
- Li, J, et al.
(author)
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A prospective pilot study of the effect of acupuncture on insulin sensitivity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and insulin resistance
- 2020
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In: Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society. - : SAGE Publications. - 1759-9873. ; 38:5, s. 310-318
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To test the hypothesis that acupuncture improves insulin sensitivity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and insulin resistance (IR). Design: Prospective pilot study. Setting: Guangzhou, China, 2014–2016. Participants: Eighty women with PCOS aged 18–40 years with body mass index (BMI) above 18.5 kg/m2 and with homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index ⩾2.14. Interventions: Subjects received acupuncture with combined manual and low-frequency electrical stimulation of the needles three times per week for 6 months. Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome was the change in HOMA-IR after 6 months of acupuncture relative to baseline. Secondary outcomes included changes after 6 months of acupuncture and at 3 months of follow-up (both relative to baseline) in oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) parameters (glucose and insulin levels), anthropometric measurements, and circulating metabolic and endocrine variables. Results: HOMA-IR and fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels were significantly decreased after 6 months of acupuncture, and both HOMA-IR and fasting insulin remained significantly decreased at 3 months of follow-up. In a subgroup analysis of normal-weight and overweight/obese women, HOMA-IR was reduced after 6 months of acupuncture in both subgroups, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusions: Acupuncture treatment in Chinese women with PCOS and IR was associated with an encouraging improvement in insulin sensitivity. Further randomized controlled studies are required to confirm the efficacy of acupuncture for this indication.
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