Chronic fatigue syndrome treated by the traditional Chinese procedure abdominal tuina: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the traditional Chinese procedure abdominal Tuina (AT) on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). METHODS: This randomized, single assessor-blinded clinical trial was carried out from May 2014 to April 2015. Eighty participants in the trial were divided randomly into two groups: experimental group and control. The experimental group (40 cases) was treated by AT and the control group (40 cases) by acupuncture. Each treatment was conducted once a day, 5 d for one course, at an interval of 2 d between each course. The whole treatment course lasted for 4 weeks. To ascertain the effect of AT and acupuncture, Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) scores were used before and after treatment. Patients were followed up for 3 months after treatment. RESULTS: After treatment for 4 weeks, 77 patients (39 cases in the experimental group and 38 cases in the control group) completed the trial. The FS-14, SAS and HAMD scores decreased (P < 0.05) significantly compared with those before treatment in both groups. The FS-14 and HAMD (P < 0.05) scores in the experimental group were much lower than those in the control group. The difference in SAS scores between the two groups was not significant. In the final follow-up, CFS in two cases in the experimental group and three in the control group recurred, but the difference was not significant. The scores for the FS-14, SAS and HAMD in the experimental group were superior to those of the control group, and the difference was significant (P < 0.05). No serious adverse events and few adverse events were observed. CONCLUSION: AT elicited a more efficacious effect than acupuncture alone on CFS.