Objective: To observe the effect of five-element music therapy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on the clinical symptoms and the quality of life in the patients with suboptimal health status (SHS) of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency and explore the corresponding specificity changes in the temperature of acupoints when zangfu functions are of dysfunction and recovered to be balanced, separately.
Methods: Sixty patients with SHS of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. In the control group, the conventional health education was provided. In the observation group, on the base of the therapeutic regimen as the control group, the patients received the five-element music therapy to pacify the liver qi and strengthen the spleen functions, once every two days, 30 min each time, 3 treatments a week. The course of treatment consisted of 4 weeks. Before and after treatment, the TCM syndrome score and the MOS 36-item short form healthy survey (SF-36) score were compared between the two groups and the clinical therapeutic effect was evaluated. Using infrared thermal imaging, the temperature at the acupoints of the affected organs (liver, spleen), the related organs (gallbladder, stomach) and the other non-related zangfu organs (pericardium, lung) was detected before and after treatment in the two groups.
Results: After treatment, the TCM syndrome scores were reduced when compared with those before treatment in the two groups (P<0.01, P<0.05); the reduction in the observation group was larger than that of the control group (P<0.01). The score of each domain for the SF-36 in the observation group and the score of role-emotional domain in the control group were all increased when compared with the scores before treatment (P<0.01, P<0.05); and the score of each domain for the SF-36 in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). The total effective rate was 66.7% (20/30) in the observation group, which was higher than 10.0% in the control group (3/30, P<0.05). In the observation group, the temperature of the yuan-primary point, the back-shu point and the front-mu point related to the liver, as well as those related to the gallbladder after treatment was reduced when compared with the temperature before treatment; and the changes were larger than those of the control group (P<0.01). The temperature of the yuan-primary point, the back-shu point and the front-mu point related to the spleen, as well as the back-shu point and the front-mu point related to the stomach in the observation group was increased when compared with the temperature before treatment (P<0.01); and the changes were larger than those of the control group (P<0.01). For the temperature of the non-specific points related to the liver and spleen, as well as the yuan-primary point, the back-shu point and the front-mu point related to the pericardium and the lung, there was no significant differences when compared with the temperature at the above-mentioned acupoints before and after treatment (P>0.05).
Conclusion: TCM five-element music therapy associated with the conventional health education may effectively relieve the clinical symptoms and improve the quality of life in the patients with suboptimal health status of liver stagnation and sleep deficiency; and the therapeutic effect is better than the simple health education. The changes in the temperature of acupoints may reflect the functional regulation of the related zangfu organs in the body.
目的：观察中医五音疗法对肝郁脾虚型亚健康患者临床症状和生活质量的影响，探索患者机体处于脏腑功能失衡态和恢复平衡态时经穴温度的相对特异性变化。方法：将60例肝郁脾虚型亚健康患者随机分为观察组和对照组，每组30例。对照组予以健康教育；观察组在对照组的基础上予疏肝健脾五音疗法，每次30 min，隔日1次，每周3次，共治疗4周。比较两组患者治疗前后中医证候积分和健康调查简表（SF-36）评分，并评定临床疗效。应用红外热成像技术检测两组患者治疗前后相关脏腑（肝、脾）、表里脏腑（胆、胃）和非相关脏腑（心包、肺）腧穴温度。结果：治疗后，两组患者中医证候积分均较治疗前降低（P<0.01，P<0.05），观察组降低幅度大于对照组（P<0.01）；观察组SF-36各项评分、对照组SF-36情感职能评分较治疗前升高（P<0.01，P<0.05），观察组SF-36各项评分均高于对照组（P<0.01）。观察组总有效率为66.7%（20/30），高于对照组的10.0%（3/30，P<0.05）。治疗后，观察组与肝相关的原穴和俞募穴、与胆相关的原穴和俞募穴温度较治疗前降低（P<0.01），且降低幅度大于对照组（P<0.01）；与脾相关的原穴和俞募穴、与胃相关的俞募穴温度较治疗前升高（P<0.01），且升高幅度大于对照组（P<0.01）；与肝、脾相关的非特定穴和与心包、肺相关的原穴、俞募穴治疗前后温度比较，差异均无统计学意义（P>0.05）。结论：在健康教育基础上联合中医五音疗法可有效改善肝郁脾虚型亚健康患者临床症状及生活质量，其疗效优于单纯健康教育。腧穴体表温度变化可以反映中医五音疗法对机体相关脏腑功能状态的调节情况。.
Keywords: acupoint temperature; five-element music therapy; infrared thermal imaging; liver stagnation and spleen deficiency; relationship with acupoints and zangfu; suboptimal health status.