ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the effect of auricular plaster therapy on associated symptoms and quality of life in patients with constipation induced by strong opioid drugs for pain.Methods A total of 60 patients selected were randomly divided into the intervention group and the control group with 30 cases in each group.The intervention group was treated with auriculotherapy based on the pattern/syndrome differentiation after detecting the auricular sensitive acupoints' distribution in patients with opioid-induced constipation after receiving opioid therapy.BFI,self-made scale on symptoms accompanied by constipation and PAC-QOL were used to collect data about constipation symptoms and the level of quality of life before or after the intervention,and still with a subset of the intervention group followed for more than two weeks.Results The BFI and PAC-QOL scores of the intervention and control group were lower after intervention,and the decline score of the two groups showed significant difference.But for the self-made scale,the score of each item was slightly lower compared with that before treatment,which showed no statistically significant difference between groups.A follow-up of 2 weeks showed that the long-term efficacy of auricular plaster therapy was significantly lower than before,but was less desirable than short-term.Conclusions Scientific and reasonable choice of acupoint prescription according to syndrome differentiation can effectively improve symptoms accompanied by constipation and patients' quality of life.
ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the reliability and validity of Bowel Function Index applied to assess the constipation induced by strong opioid drugs for patients with cancer pain.Methods 126 patients with constipation induced by strong opioid drugs for pain caused by cancer were selected.BFI,Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptoms(PAC-SYM) and clinical observations were used to collect data which were conducted for reliability analysis,correlation analysis and tests for several independent samples to evaluate the reliability and validity.Results The internal consistency determined by Cronbach αt was 0.86 for the total BFI score.Significant correlations were found among BFI,PAC-SYM and clinical observations.The BFI total score and each item scores of three groups all showed significant differences.Conclusions The Chinese version of BFI is a simple,valid and reliable,clinically relevant tool to assess the constipation induced by strong opioid drugs for pain caused by cancer.