Effects of comprehensive therapy based on traditional Chinese medicine patterns on older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a subgroup analysis from a four-center, randomized, controlled study

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of comprehensive therapy based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) patterns on older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) through a four-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Patients were divided into the trial group treated using conventional western medicine and Bu-Fei Jian-Pi granules, Bu-Fei Yi-Shen granules, and Yi-Qi Zi-Shen granules based on TCM patterns respectively; and the control group treated using conventional western medicine. A total of 136 patients≥65 years completed the study, with 63 patients comprising the trial group and 73 comprising the control group. After the six-month treatment and the 12-month follow-up period, significant differences were observed between the trial and control groups in the following aspects: frequency of acute exacerbation (P≤0.040), duration of acute exacerbation (P = 0.034), symptoms (P≤0.034), 6-min walking distance (6MWD) (P≤0.039), dyspnea scale (P≤0.036); physical domain (P≤0.019), psychological domain (P≤0.033), social domain (P≤0.020), and environmental domain (P≤0.044) of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire; and daily living ability domain (P≤0.007), social activity domain (P≤0.018), depression symptoms domain (P≤0.025), and anxiety symptoms domain (P≤0.037) of the COPD-QOL. No differences were observed between the trial and control groups with regard to FVC, FEV1, and FEV1%.

Keywords

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / older adult / clinical trial / Bu-Fei Jian-Pi granules / Bu-Fei Yi-Shen granules / Yi-Qi Zi-Shen granules

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the 2011 Special Fund for TCM Scientific Research in the Public Interest of the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (201107002) as well as by the Innovation Scientists and Technicians Troop Construction Projects of Henan Province (132101510003).

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Minghang Wang, Jiansheng Li, Suyun Li, and Yang Xie declare that they have no conflict of interest. Additional informed consent was obtained from all patients with identification information provided in this article.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg