The Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Elderly Patients of Stroke

Stroke Clinical Trial

Official title:

The Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Elderly Patients of Stroke: a Pragmatic Study of Acupuncture for Primary Care

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04971603
• Other study ID #: Acupuncture for stroke
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 1, 2021
• Est. completion date: January 31, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: January 2021
• Source: Hong Kong Baptist University
• Contact: Linda Zhong, MD.,PH.D
• Phone: 852-34116523
• Email: ldzhong0305[@]gmail.com
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Stroke and its sequelae are a major indication for acupuncture. The specific aims of this study are to assess the feasibility of pragmatic clinical trial on acupuncture in primary care setting and evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation in Hong Kong.

Description:

The study will help to develop ap treatment patterns for stroke rehabilitation of elderly patients in Hong Kong. The specific aims of this study are to assess the feasibility of pragmatic clinical trial on acupuncture in primary care setting and evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation on motor, sensation, speech, swallowing, cognitive, and other neurological functions.

This study includs 2-week run-in, 24-week treatment, 12-week follow up and 9 visits at week 0, 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26 and 38. The investigator will recruit totally 500 patients fulfiling the eligibility criteria in four neighbourhood elderly centres of The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council and Chinese medicine clinics of Hong Kong Baptist University. Acupuncture treatment will be applied to the patients and seven visits will be arranged within the 24-wk treatment period providing medical consultation and recording improvement and any adverse effect.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 500
• Est. completion date: January 31, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 35 Years to 95 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants who meet the following criteria will be included: (1) 35~90 years or older; (2) discharged from hospital; (3) diagnosed with cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction through brain computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); (4) stable vital signs; and (5) voluntary participation with informed consents signed in this study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The following participants are excluded: (1) patients with unconsciousness, aphasia, and cognitive dysfunction (Mini-Mental State Examination-Korean version (MMSE-K) <24); (2) those with a past history of brain disease (e.g., mental illness, consciousness disorder due to head trauma, previous brain surgery, or spastic disease); (3) those with severe heart, liver, or kidney disease or bleeding disorders; (4) those with other serious diseases (e.g., cancer, dementia (Alzheimer's disease or dementia of Lewy body), Parkinson's disease, and Parkinson's syndrome); (5) those who participated in other clinical trials within last three months; (6) those with needle phobia; and (7) pregnant or lactating female patients.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Stroke

Intervention

Other:
• Acupuncture
All acupuncture operations were done by registered Chinese medicine practitioner. Sterile, disposable acupuncture needles (0.25mmin diameter and 40mmin length) were used, which were purchased from HuaTuo acupuncture instrument. Principal points: Neiguan (PC 6) *, Sanyinjia (SP 6) *, Weizhong (BL 40) *, Baihui (GV 20), Shuigou (GV 26) *, Zusanli (ST 36) *, Quchi (LI 11) *, Waiguan (TE 5) *, Hegu (LI 4) *, Huantiao (GB 30) *, Yanglingquan (GB 34)* (Grading of recommendation: C, level of evidence: IV). Supplementary points: If upper limbs hemiplegia occurs, add Jianliao (TE 14) and Shousanli (LI 10); if lower limbs hemiplegia occurs, add Xuanzhong (GB 39) and Taichong (LR 3); if a deviation of the mouth or tongue occurs, add Dicang (ST 4) and Jiache (ST 6).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Kowloon Tong	Kowloon

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Hong Kong Baptist University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Hong Kong, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Activities of daily living (ADL) scores	ADL is commonly utilized to indicate the patient's functioning condition and level of care assistance by the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong.	9 months
Secondary	Mini-mental state examination (MMSE)	The MMSE test is a standard tool for cognitive assessment in the clinical setting. It is a 10-minute bedside measure of impaired thinking in undeveloped, uneducated, diseased, or very old populations. The summed score of the individual items indicates the current severity of cognitive impairment.	9 months
Secondary	Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Score Scale (TCMSSS)	The TCMSSS is based on	9 months
Secondary	Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ)	The CCMQ is applied to evaluate body constitution of each patient by score (Balanced Constitution, Qi-deficient Constitution, Yang-deficient Constitution, Yin-deficient Constitution, Phlegm-dampness Constitution, Damp-heat Constitution, Stagnant Blood Constitution, Stagnant Qi Constitution, and Inherited Special Constitution).	9 months