Objective: To observe the effects of conventional drug therapy combined with acupuncture and conventional drug therapy on the morbidity of post-stroke depression and recovery of neurological function in patients with acute stroke, and provide new ideas for prevention and treatment of post-stroke depression.
Methods: Sixty patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one.Conventional drug therapy was given in the control group;on the basis of conventional drug therapy,acupuncture was applied at Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN1), Neiguan (PC 6), Hegu (LI 4), Taixi (KI 3), etc. The treatment was given once every day, 6 times a week for 4 weeks in the two groups. The 24 Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD), modified Edinburgh-Scandinavian stroke scale (MESSS) scores were recored before treatment, after 1 week of treatment, and after 4 weeks of treatment in the two groups,and the morbidity of post-stroke depression was compared between the two groups.
Results: After 1 week of treatment, the HAMD scale scores of the two groups were higher than those before treatment (both P<0.05), and the MESSS scores were lower than those before treatment in the two groups (both P<0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, the HAMD scale scores in the observation group were lower than that before treatment (P<0.05), and significantly better than that in the control group (P<0.01), but there was no significant difference in the control group before and after treatment (P>0.05). The MESSS scores were lower than those after 1 week of treatment in the two groups (both P<0.05), and the score in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.01). After 4 weeks of treatment, the morbidity of post-stroke depression in the observation group was 23.3% (7/30), which was lower than 66.7% (20/30) in the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Early acupuncture intervention on stroke patients can not only promote the recovery of neurological function, but also reduce the morbidity of post-stroke depression effectively.
Keywords: Hamilton depression scale (HAMD); acupuncture; modified Edinburgh-Scandinavia stroke scale (MESSS); post-stroke depression; prevention; randomized controlled trial (RCT).