Effectiveness of Acupuncture on Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients Receiving Maintenance Hemodialysis.

Patients with kidney failure (KF) receiving maintenance hemodialysis (HD) experience numerous symptoms that impair their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and contribute to high mortality rates. Acupuncture is often used for symptom enhancement and HRQOL. This blinded, randomized, controlled patient-assessor trial evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture on patients' HRQOL receiving maintenance HD as a secondary analysis. Seventy-two participants were randomly assigned to verum acupuncture (VA), sham acupuncture (SA), or waiting-list (WL) groups. The outcome was an improvement in HRQOL, assessed using the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form, version 1.3 (KDQOL-SF™ v1.3) at baseline, after treatment, and at 12-week follow-up. Non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. Of the 72 randomized patients, 67 were included in the complete analysis set. As for the changes between baseline and after treatment, the VA group showed significantly increased scores on most of the KDQOL-SF™ v1.3 scales compared to SA or WL groups (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences between groups were observed in the changes from baseline to follow-up (p > 0.05). Compared to the sham treatment, acupuncture improved the HRQOL in patients receiving maintenance HD after treatment but not at follow-up.

The importance of inflammatory biomarkers in non-specific acute and chronic low back pain: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to systematically review the evidence on inflammatory biomarkers as analytic predictors of non-specific low back pain (NsLBP). Low back pain (LBP) is the number one cause of disability globally, posing a major health problem that causes an enormous social and economic burden, and there is an increasing interest on the importance of biomarkers in quantifying and even emerge as potential therapeutic tools to LBP. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted on July 2022 in Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and Web of Science for all the available literature. Cross-sectional, longitudinal cohort or case-control studies that evaluated the relationship between inflammatory biomarkers collected from blood samples and low back pain in humans were considered eligible for inclusion, as well as prospective and retrospective studies. RESULTS: The systematic database search resulted in a total of 4016 records, of which 15 articles were included for synthesis. Sample size comprised a total of 14,555 patients with LBP (acute LBP (n = 2073); chronic LBP (n = 12482)) and 494 controls. Most studies found a positive correlation between classic pro-inflammatory biomarkers and NsLBP, namely C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 1 (IL-1) and IL-1ß, interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α). On the other hand, anti-inflammatory biomarker interleukin 10 (IL-10) demonstrated a negative association with NsLBP. Four studies have made direct comparisons between ALBP and CLBP groups regarding their inflammatory biomarkers profile. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review found evidence of increased levels of pro-inflammatory biomarkers CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α and decreased levels of anti-inflammatory biomarker IL-10 in patients with LBP. Hs-CRP was not correlated with LBP. There is insufficient evidence to associate these findings with the degree of pain severity or the activity status of the lumbar pain over time.

Integrating Acupuncture into a Dialysis Center.

A growing interest in integrating traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and conventional medicine (CM) to create a more comprehensive approach to healthcare has been verified. Scientific evidence supports acupuncture as an integrative treatment for specific health conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the acceptance and feasibility by patients and healthcare professionals of integrating acupuncture in a dialysis center. Individuals undergoing hemodialysis (HD) who participated in a patient-assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial that evaluated the effect of acupuncture on functional capacity and quality of life were included. Acceptance was measured by adherence (percentage of patients who completed treatments and dropouts) and patients' and healthcare professionals' opinions toward acupuncture (pre- and pro-intervention questionnaires). Feasibility was measured by safety (number of reported adverse events) and effectiveness (changes in functional capacity, peripheral muscle strength, and health-related quality of life scores after treatment). Forty-eight patients were included, and forty-five (93.8%) were analyzed. No adverse events were reported. All patients completed the treatment, and only three patients (6.2%) were lost to the 12-week post-treatment follow-up. The attitudes of patients and health professionals were favorable to acupuncture, namely in relation to its use, degree of discomfort, recommendation to others, and interference with routine care and clinical setting. Integrating acupuncture into a dialysis center seems viable and well-accepted by patients with kidney failure on maintenance HD, doctors and nurses.

Dor e articulação do punho na artrite reumatoide: O impacto na capacidade funcional / Pain and wrist joint in rheumatoid arthritis: The impact on functional capacity / Dolor y articulación de la muñeca en la artritis reumatoide: El impacto en la capacidad funcional

Resumo Enquadramento: Artrite reumatoide (AR), doença autoimune, inflamatória e crónica. Caracteriza-se por poliartrite, dor crónica e dificuldade em mobilizar as articulações, que levam à incapacidade funcional dos doentes. Objetivos: Avaliar a influência da mobilidade articular do punho e da dor, na capacidade funcional de doentes com AR. Metodologia: Estudo quantitativo, descritivo e correlacional, constituído por uma amostra de 105 doentes, com aplicação do Índice de Incapacidade - Questionário Avaliação de Saúde (HAQ-DI); Escala Visual Analógica da Dor (EVA) e medição da amplitude articular do punho, com goniómetro. Resultados: A mobilidade articular do punho é representativa na funcionalidade (p < 0,05), no entanto, a sua extensão e flexão, não influenciam diretamente a dor (p > 0,05). Observou-se que a dor é impactante na capacidade funcional dos doentes (p = 0,010). Conclusão: A mobilidade articular do punho e a dor afetam as atividades diárias dos doentes com AR, expressas através da capacidade funcional de avaliação de saúde.

Abstract Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, autoimmune, and inflammatory disease. Symptoms include polyarthritis, chronic pain, and difficulty in joint mobilization, which lead to functional disability in patients. Objectives: To assess the influence of wrist joint mobility and pain on the functional capacity of patients with RA. Methodology: Quantitative, descriptive, and correlational study in a sample of 105 patients. Health Assessment Questionnaire - Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and Visual Analog Pain Scale (VAS) were applied, and the wrist joint range of motion was measured with a goniometer. Results: Joint wrist mobility is representative of functionality (p < 0.05). However, wrist joint extension and flexion do not directly influence pain (p > 0.05). Pain was observed to impact the functional capacity in patients (p = 0.010). Conclusion: Joint wrist mobility and pain affect the daily activities of patients with RA, expressed through the functional capacity for health assessment.

Resumen Marco contextual: Artritis reumatoide (AR), una enfermedad autoinmune, inflamatoria y crónica. Se caracteriza por la poliartritis, el dolor crónico y la dificultad para movilizar las articulaciones, lo que provoca la incapacidad funcional de los pacientes. Objetivos: Evaluar la influencia de la movilidad articular de la muñeca y el dolor en la capacidad funcional de los pacientes con AR. Metodología: Estudio cuantitativo, descriptivo y correlacional, compuesto por una muestra de 105 pacientes, en el que se aplicó el Índice de Discapacidad - Cuestionario de Evaluación de la Salud (HAQ-DI); la Escala Visual Analógica del Dolor (EVA) y la medición de la amplitud articular de la muñeca, con un goniómetro. Resultados: La movilidad articular de la muñeca es representativa en la funcionalidad (p < 0,05), sin embargo, la extensión y la flexión no influyen directamente en el dolor (p > 0,05). Se observó que el dolor tiene un impacto en la capacidad funcional de los pacientes (p = 0,010). Conclusión: La movilidad articular de la muñeca y el dolor afectan las actividades diarias de los pacientes con AR, expresadas a través de la capacidad funcional de evaluación de la salud.

Effect of Acupuncture on Functional Capacity in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: A Patient-Assessor Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.

Decreased functional capacity (FC) in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) is associated with adverse health events and poor survival. Acupuncture is recognized as a safe and effective integrative treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of acupuncture treatment on the FC in chronic kidney disease with GFR category 5 (CKG G5) patients undergoing HD. In this patient-assessor blinded randomized controlled trial, seventy-two KF patients were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 24), placebo (n = 24) and control groups (n = 24). The primary outcome was the improvement in FC assessed by the 6-Minute Walk Test (6-MWT). Secondary outcomes included assessment of peripheral muscle strength by the Handgrip Strength Test (HGS) and the 30-Second Sit-to-Stand Test (STS-30) at baseline, after treatment and at 12-week follow up. A mixed ANOVA with interaction time*group was used. The experimental group increased walk distance (p < 0.001), lower limbs strength (p < 0.001) and handgrip strength (p = 0.012) after nine acupuncture sessions and stabilized in the follow-up (p > 0.05). In the placebo and control groups the 6-MWT and 30STS results decreased (p < 0.001) and the HGS scores did not change through time (p > 0.05). Acupuncture treatment improved FC and muscle strength in patients undergoing HD.

Effect of Acupuncture on Functional Capacity and Health-Related Quality of Life of Hemodialysis Patients: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

The proposed randomized controlled trial protocol will evaluate the effect of acupuncture treatment on the functional capacity (FC) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) category 5 (CKG G5) patients receiving maintenance dialysis. Patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) from a dialysis center will be randomly assigned to experimental, placebo and control groups. In order to determine the difference between the same number of treatments performed three times or one treatment a week, experimental (verum acupuncture) and placebo (sham acupuncture) groups will receive a total of nine acupuncture treatments; however, both groups will be divided into subgroups A and B. The same selection of acupuncture points will be applied to both experimental subgroups and the placebo subgroups will receive acupuncture on non-acupuncture points. The results will be assessed by the 6-min Walk Test, Handgrip Test, 30-sec Sit-to-Stand and Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form and will be held at baseline, after treatment and 12 weeks post-treatment follow up. This paper describes the rationale and design for a randomized, patient-assessor blinded controlled trial, which may provide evidence for the clinical application of acupuncture in CKG G5 patients undergoing HD.