| Abstract |
Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with antidepressants in the treatment of depressive disorders in old age.Method: Through the hospital HIS system extracted 714 hospitalized elderly patients with depressive disorder from Jan to Dec 2017, and patients’ information was collected through a self-compiled case information collection form. According to whether the acupuncture treatment was taken or not, patients were divide into 2 groups. Comparative analysis in order to explore the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with antidepressant treatment in elderly patients with depressive disorder.Result: 714 patients were enrolled, with an average age of (66.7±5.2) years, and the proportion of women was higher than that of men (67.8% vs. 32.2%). 155 patients (21.7%) were treated with acupuncture. Upon comparison, the number of previous hospitalizations, number of co-morbidities, duration of illness, number of people with suicidal ideation, number of people applying for consultation, and number of first episodes were significantly more in the acupuncture group than in the control group (P < 0.05); the number of hospital days and hospital costs were significantly lower than in the control group (P < 0.05). The proportion of urban population, concomitant psychiatric symptoms, and discharge efficacy to cure criteria within the acupuncture group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed that the clinical efficacy of patients in the acupuncture group was significantly positively correlated with the number of acupuncture treatments (P < 0.05), and the number of hospitalization days, suicidal ideation, and hospitalization costs were significantly negatively correlated with the number of acupuncture treatments (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Acupuncture combined with antidepressant treatment can improve the clinical efficacy of geriatric depression, reduce suicidal ideation, and decrease the number of hospitalization days and hospitalization costs, which is worth promoting.
|