Acupressure in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis: a randomized controlled exploratory trial

Israel, Lukas; Rotter, Gabriele; Förster-Ruhrmann, Ulrike; Hummelsberger, Josef; Nögel, Rainer; Michalsen, Andreas; Tissen-Diabaté, Tatjana; Binting, Sylvia; Reinhold, Thomas; Ortiz, Miriam; Brinkhaus, Benno

doi:10.1186/s13020-021-00536-w

Chinese Medicine

Table 3 Outcome measurements

From: Acupressure in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis: a randomized controlled exploratory trial

Outcome	N^a	Adjusted means (95% CI)			P value
Outcome	N^a	Acupressure	Control	Difference between groups Acupressure vs. control	P value
RQLQ total score (0–6)^b (MCID 0.5)
After 2 weeks	38	1.4 (1.1 to 1.7)	1.7 (1.4 to 2.0)	− 0.3 (− 0.8 to 0.1)	0.133
After 4 weeks	36	1.0 (0.5 to 1.5)	1.9 (1.4 to 2.3)	− 0.9 (− 1.6 to − 0.2)	0.011
After 8 weeks	35	0.7 (0.3 to 1.1)	1.2 (0.8 to 1.6)	− 0.5 (− 1.1 to 0.1)	0.113
RMS (0–3)^b,d
After 4 weeks	37	0.1 (− 1.1 to 1.3)	2.0 (0.7 to 3.3)	− 1.9 (− 3.8 to − 0.1)	0.120
After 8 weeks	35	0.0 (− 1.5 to 2.0)	1.8 (0.4 to 3.0)	− 1.8 (− 4.0 to 0.3)	0.080
VAS score (0–100) mm^b
After 2 weeks	38	36.5 (27.2 to 45.9)	39.0 (29.7 to 48.3)	− 2.5 (− 15.7 to 10.7)	0.708
After 4 weeks	38	20.0 (9.6 to 30.4)	41.6 (31.2 to 52.0)	− 21.6 (− 36.3 to − 6.8)	0.005
After 8 weeks	33	16.7 (5.0 to 28.4)	31.3 (19.3 to 43.4)	− 14.6 (− 31.4 to 2.1)	0.085
TNSS (0–12)^b
After 2 weeks	38	4.3 (3.3 to 5.3)	5.2 (4.2 to 6.2)	− 0.8 (− 2.2 to 0.6)	0.231
After 4 weeks	38	3.0 (2.0 to 4.0)	5.3 (4.2 to 6.3)	− 2.3 (− 3.7 to − 0.8)	0.003
After 8 weeks	34	2.1 (0.9 to 3.3)	4.1 (3.0 to 5.3)	− 2.0 (− 3.7 to − 0.4)	0.019
TNNSS (0–12)^b
After 2 weeks	38	1.7 (1.0 to 2.5)	2.7 (2.0 to 3.5)	− 1.0 (− 2.1 to 0.1)	0.076
After 4 weeks	38	1.2 (0.3 to 2.1)	2.6 (1.8 to 3.5)	− 1.4 (− 2.6 to − 0.2)	0.026
After 8 weeks	33	1.1 (0.2 to 1.9)	1.9 (1.1 to 2.7)	− 0.9 (− 2.0 to 0.3)	0.137
THK-F (18–54)^c autonomic functioning
After 4 weeks	36	41.5 (40.2 to 42.8)	40.9 (39.7 to 42.1)	0.6 (− 1.2 to 2.4)	0.505
After 8 weeks	35	41.9 (40.6 to 43.3)	41.3 (40.0 to 42.7)	0.6 (− 1.3 to 2.6)	0.527
SF-36 (0–100)^c Phys. component
After 4 weeks	36	55.5 (52.8 to 58.1)	51.7 (49.2 to 54.2)	3.8 (0.2 to 7.4)	0.041
After 8 weeks	35	53.9 (51.7 to 56.0)	53.5 (51.4 to 55.6)	0.3 (− 2.7 to 3.4)	0.818
SF-36 (0–100)^c mental component
After 4 weeks	36	47.2 (42.8 to 51.6)	48.6 (44.4 to 52.7)	− 1.4 (− 7.5 to 4.7)	0.649
After 8 weeks	35	48.7 (44.6 to 52.8)	50.8 (46.8 to 54.8)	− 2.1 (− 7.9 to 3.6)	0.457

Outcome	N^a	RQLQ-related Outcomes
Outcome	N^a	Acupressure	Control	Difference between groups Acupressure vs. control
RQLQ responder rates (%)^c
After week 4	36	82.4	36.8	45.6
RQLQ effect size^c,e
After week 4	36		0.9
After week 8	35		0.6

RQLQ Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire, RMS rescue medication score, non-adjusted means, VAS visual analog scale for overall SAR symptoms, TNSS total nasal symptom score, TNNSS total non-nasal symptom score, THK-F trait-constitution questionnaire of Havelhöhe, SF-36 Short form-36 Health Survey, MCID minimal clinically important difference
^aNumber shown is the number of randomly assigned patients, analysed numbers vary because of missings
^bLower values indicate better status
^cHigher values indicate better status
^dWithout baseline-adjustment
^eEffect size based on adjusted means

Back to article page

ISSN: 1749-8546

Contact us

Submission enquiries: Access here and click Contact Us
General enquiries: info@biomedcentral.com