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Evaluating the effect of acupuncture on symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) among individuals with diabetic neuropathy: A single-blind, randomized trial study

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the impact of acupuncture on Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) symptoms among individuals with diabetic neuropathy.

Methods

In a single-blind, randomized trial conducted between 2019 and 2020, 60 patients diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy were enrolled. These participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group. The intervention group received real acupuncture alongside routine treatment once a week for seven sessions, each lasting 20 min. Meanwhile, the control group received sham acupuncture as an adjunct to their routine treatment, following the same schedule. To evaluate treatment efficacy, the study assessed primary outcomes, such as pain intensity measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes included evaluating fatigue severity and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) side effects, measured using the multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI-20) and a standard questionnaire after each session.

Results

No statistically significant differences in pain and fatigue scores were observed between the two groups throughout all visits, even after adjusting for baseline characteristics, age, sex, type of diabetes, discopathy, and carpal tunnel syndrome parameters (P > 0.05). The findings did not provide strong evidence supporting a significant effect of real acupuncture compared to sham acupuncture on pain and fatigue values (P = 0.267 and 0.634, respectively). However, the 95% confidence interval for pain scores (-0.35, 1.28) was inconclusive, encompassing effect sizes favoring sham acupuncture.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that using acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy alongside routine treatment may not lead to a significant reduction in the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and fatigue severity among individuals with diabetic neuropathy.

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Acknowledgements

Words of thanks are offered to the participants in this study and all the colleagues of Sabzevar Diabetes Clinic.

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Iranian Research Centre on Healthy Aging Department of operative room and anaesthetics, School of paramedical, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran

    Roghayeh Zardosht

  2. Student Research Committee, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran

    Akram Arabi

  3. Medical Student, Student Research Committee, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran

    Maedeh Akhlaghi

  4. Non-Communicable Disease Research Centre, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran

    Roghayeh Javan

  5. Iranian Research Centre on Healthy Aging, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran

    Maryam Khosrojerdi

  6. School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Mohammad Sahebkar

Authors
  1. Roghayeh Zardosht
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  2. Akram Arabi
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  3. Maedeh Akhlaghi
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  4. Roghayeh Javan
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  6. Mohammad Sahebkar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Sahebkar.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Zardosht, R., Arabi, A., Akhlaghi, M. et al. Evaluating the effect of acupuncture on symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) among individuals with diabetic neuropathy: A single-blind, randomized trial study. J Diabetes Metab Disord 22, 1769–1778 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40200-023-01314-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40200-023-01314-1

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