ABSTRACT
Objective To study the clinical effect of qi supplementation combined with rehabilitation on the severity of fatigue after ischcmic stroke in patients with qi deficiency. Methods Ninety ischemic stroke patients with qi deficiency were randomly divided into 3 groups of 30. The treatment group was treated with an oral decoction of qi-supplementing Chinese medicine and also rehabilitation. The Western medicine control group was treated with a Chinese medicine placebo, Western medicine and rehabilitation. The blank control group was treated with the Chinese medicine placebo and rehabilitation. All groups were evaluated using a stroke-specific quality of life scale ( SSQOL) and a fatigue severity scale (FSS) before and 4 weeks after treatment. Results After treatment, the average SS-QOL and FSS scores had improved significantly compared with those before treatment, especially in the two treatment groups. There was a significant difference between the treatment group and the Western medicine control group,and between the treatment group and the blank control group on both scales. There was also a significant difference between the Western medicine control group and the blank control group in terms of SS-QOL scores, but not FSSscores. Conclusion All 3 treatments alleviated fatigue in ischemic stroke patients with a qi deficiency. Qi supplementation combined with rehabilitation was the most effective, followed by Western medicine combined with rehabilitation.