Journal of alternative and complementary medicine最新文献

Background: Equine-assisted therapy may promote positive behavior change in young people "at risk." However, it is not always clear what therapeutic content is involved and if a trained therapist is included. The therapeutic effects of the key part of the "therapy," the horse, are not understood. Objectives: To investigate the impact of an equine program without a therapist on attention and behavioral outcomes of young people "at risk." Design: A within subjects pre-post design. A small sample also completed a control period. Setting/location: A small riding center in a rural area of outer Brisbane, Australia. Subjects: Twelve- to 17-year olds (N = 50; 20 girls; mean age 13.88), attending nontraditional flexischool. Intervention: A 5-week program of 2-h long sessions of equine activities that did not include a trained therapist or specific therapeutic content. Outcome measures: Teacher-report measures of externalizing and internalizing behavior were reported before and after the program through the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: A paired samples t test resulted in the statistically significant reduction of the BRIEF Global Executive Score between pre and post participation in the equine program (mean difference = -5.89), t(36) = -3.377, p = 0.002 and the SDQ Hyperactivity score (mean difference = -0.727), t(43) = -2.244, p = 0.030. Equine activities may reverse a trajectory of worsening problems. This may especially affect symptoms related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Conclusion: Equine programs may offer an alternative method to reduce poor behavior and improve attention in young people. Benefits in attention may occur even without specific therapeutic content or therapist involvement. It is proposed that some of these benefits come directly from the horse and the interactions with the horse; others are contextual.

This single-center observational study aimed to assess the inter-rater reliability (IRR) of Kampo medicine pattern diagnosis, which is modularized into three modules for chronic diseases, using 64 participants' information documents. The linearly weighted percentage of agreement and Gwet's agreement coefficient (AC) 2 for the deficiency-excess module, among three specialists, were 85.9% and 0.708, respectively. The unweighted percentage of agreement and Gwet's AC1 were 64.6% and 0.542 for the cold-heat, and 35.9% and 0.254 for the qi-blood-fluid modules, respectively. Our findings suggest that our modularization method may improve the IRR of Kampo medicine pattern diagnosis.

Objectives: Acupuncture, widely used in Chinese society, has been studied as an adjunct treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of combined acupuncture and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) with conventional steroid therapy for ISSNHL. Methods: This retrospective chart review enrolled 154 patients who met the ISSNHL criteria and were categorized into three groups according to the different treatment regimens. Among these patients, 43 underwent steroid therapy only (S) group, 74 received steroid and HBOT (S-H) group, and the remaining 37 were treated with combined acupuncture-HBOT in addition to steroid therapy (S-H-A) group. The outcome was determined by comparing the differences in pure-tone thresholds and absolute hearing gains after treatment calculated at each audiometric octave frequency or grouped frequencies of audiograms. Hearing recoveries classified into three grades: complete, partial, and poor were also analyzed and compared among different treatment groups. Results: All subjects presented with initial severe hearing loss with averaged hearing thresholds >70 dB. The S-H-A group exhibited good hearing improvement outcomes at each audiometric octave frequency and grouped frequencies of audiograms, with greater hearing gain and had more favorable outcomes in hearing recovery grades compared with the S group and the S-H group. Conclusions: The results obtained in this study revealed a preliminary finding of ISSNHL patients benefiting from combined acupuncture, HBOT, and conventional steroid therapy. Acupuncture is a safe and nonpharmacologic treatment option and can be considered as an initial treatment strategy in such a clinical scenario.

Objective: We evaluated digital consultations at a University Hospital in Switzerland within an integrative medicine outpatient setting. Patients' and treatment providers' (physicians and therapists) evaluated digital conversation-based consultations as well as the digital delivery of practical exercises. Methods: Digital consultations between March 15, 2020 and April 30, 2020 were identified. Between June and July 2020, patients and treatment providers completed online questionnaires addressing challenges and advantages of their digital consultations. Both groups documented their satisfaction and working alliance (Working Alliance Inventory). In addition, semistructured qualitative interviews with treatment providers were conducted. Findings: A total of 82 online surveys (response rate 47%) about the digital consultations were available for analyses, with 60 patients correctly identifying at least one treatment provider, and 9 interviews were performed. Patients and treatment providers overall evaluated the new setting of digital consultation as feasible and an efficient consultation format. Interestingly, the working alliance was rated as good. Technical problems were mentioned as the main challenge and the delivery of practical exercises in digital consultations was seen more challenging than having digital conversation-based consultations. Conclusion: Digital consultations were established with overall positive evaluations and with a good working alliance between patients and providers. For the delivery of practical exercises it might be required to develop more innovative digital settings to overcome shortcomings of the digital format. Hybrid settings that combine the best of both settings could be a good option for future in postpandemic times.

Objective: Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is quite popular in Asia. The purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits of decreasing the risk of cirrhosis in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by using CHM. Design: We performed a 1:3 propensity score-matched cohort study to analyze patients with NAFLD diagnosed between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2011 through the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients who received CHM therapy from the initial date of diagnosis of NAFLD to December 31, 2011 were included in the CHM group. Patients who were not treated with CHM during the same interval were categorized in the non-CHM group. Cox regression model was used to adjust for sex, age, comorbidities, and drug use. Hazard ratios were also compared between the two groups. Results: A total of 13,072 patients were identified after 1:3 propensity score matching. The patients had similar basic characteristics. A lower cumulative incidence of cirrhosis was found in the CHM cohort (log-rank test, p < 0.0001). Finally, 176 patients in the CHM cohort (4.66 per 1000 person-years) and 582 patients in the non-CHM cohort (7.92 per 1000 person-years) developed cirrhosis (adjusted hazard ratios 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.53-0.75). The effect of CHM to lower cirrhosis incidence was independent of sex, drug use, and comorbidities, including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Patients older than 40 years of age and without comorbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hyperlipidemia, alcoholism, tobacco use, or obesity also benefited from CHM. Conclusions: Our study is the first large-scale investigation in Taiwan that shows the association between patients with NAFLD and cirrhosis prevention after CHM intervention. The results may be useful for treatment and for decision making for patients and clinical doctors. Further restricted trials are needed to support our findings.