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Background: In Chinese medicine, the mental focus and emotional stability of acupuncturists are key to optimal clinical outcomes. Many renowned acupuncturists utilize Traditional Chinese Qigong practices to enhance their concentration and emotional regulation abilities. Nevertheless, the existing literature lacks comprehensive evidence addressing this matter. Methods: This study will enroll 99 acupuncturists and randomly allocate them to one of three groups: Baduanjin, aerobic exercise, or a waiting-list control. The Baduanjin group will undertake 24 weeks of training, with three one-hour sessions weekly. The aerobic group will engage in brisk walking for the same duration and frequency. The control group will not receive any specific training. Assessments of emotion regulation, attention, cognitive functions, finger sensation, and athletic ability will be conducted at baseline (-1 week), mid-intervention (12 weeks), and post-intervention (24 weeks). Additionally, 20 participants from each group will undergo fMRI scans before and after the intervention to explore brain functional and structural changes relating to emotion, attention, cognition, motor skills, and sensory perception. Discussion: This study aims to contribute valuable insights into the effectiveness of Qigong practice, specifically Baduanjin, in enhancing emotional regulation, attention, and cognitive functions in acupuncturists and to investigate the neuroimaging mechanisms behind these effects. Ethics and dissemination: Approved by the Sichuan Regional Ethics Review Committee on Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. 2023KL - 118) and adhering to the Declaration of Helsinki. Results will be shared through policy briefs, workshops, peer-reviewed journals, and conferences.Clinical trial registrationwww.chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR2300076447.
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INTRODUCTION: Neck pain (NP) is a common condition that can be effectively treated by acupuncture. However, several treatment point prescriptions (ie, local acupoints, distal acupoints, and sensitised acupoints) may be used. The present study aims to identify the types of sensitisation and the distribution of sensitised points in patients with NP, to analyse the cut-off values and sensitisation rate for acupoint sensitisation, and to summarise the dominant forms of optimally sensitised points. This information will be helpful when choosing the optimal points to treat NP. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This multicentre, matched, case-control study will enrol 224 patients with NP, and 224 age-matched and sex-matched healthy participants as controls. Body surface temperature, mechanical pain threshold, pressure pain threshold and skin resistance will be assessed at the 15 acupoints most frequently used to treat NP, and at the five body regions in which pain occurs most frequently. Hypothesis testing will be used to compare the differences in variables between cases and controls. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis will be used to explore the cut-off values of the sensitive states of heat, pain and electrical resistance, which indicate sensitisation of the acupoint. The optimal points will be comprehensively determined by the acupoint sensitisation rate and OR. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval of this study has been granted by the Research Ethical Committee of the Teaching Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ID: 2018 KL-016). The outcomes of the study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR1800016220.