Acupuncture for chronic pelvic inflammatory disease: a qualitative study of patients’ insistence on treatment

Abstract

BackgroundAcupuncture is an effective complement to pharmacological therapy in the alleviation of chronic pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). It has mild or no side effects; however, a minimum of 3 months of therapy is required to guarantee a beneficial outcome. This study investigates why patients insist on acupuncture therapy to aid recuperation.MethodsThe study included a purposive sample of 15 participants diagnosed with chronic PID who had received a course of acupuncture therapy at least twice a week for a minimum of 3 months. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, recorded, transcribed, coded and analyzed using systematic text condensation.ResultsFour overarching themes were identified from the participants’ reasons for insisting on lengthy, but in their view important, acupuncture courses. The four overarching themes were: (1) the patients’ characteristics, including pregnancy aspiration and the fear of serious gynecological disease; (2) the patient–practitioner relationship, including the acupuncturist’s attitude towards the patients and the explanation of the disease from a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) perspective; (3) the characteristics of acupuncture, including the diversification of treatment modes, the synthetical effect, and no side-effects; and (4) the clinical environment, including the exchange of experience between patients and the well-equipped setting.ConclusionsThere were mixed reasons for patients diagnosed with chronic PID maintaining acupuncture treatments. Knowledge and understanding about the acupuncture-disease relationship were conducive to the patients’ preference for acupuncture. Acupuncture as a complement to Western medicine should be further developed while maintaining these positive features. Participants reported feeling hope, confidence, and a sense of responsibility for their treatment during the process, although the treatments did not always have the expected outcome.

Acupuncture in hospice settings: A qualitative exploration of patients’ experiences

“…The collaborative approaches to treatment adopted by acupuncturists, with shared strategy and decision-making, engaged participants in the responsibility for their own health, making a genuine partnership approach possible (Liang & Gong, 2014;Tippens, 2013).…”

Action Mechanism of Zhuang Medicine Jin-mu Granules Against Chronic Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Explored Using Comprehensive Network Pharmacology and Metabolomics

“…However, compromised in this natural defense, low body immunity or exogenous pathogen invasion can cause pelvic inflammatory disease. Traditional Chinese medicine classifies pelvic inflammatory disease as "menstrual disorder," "dysmenorrhea," "infertility," and so on, [1][2][3][4] with symptoms similar to those of "leucorrhoea" due to damp heat toxin in Zhuang medicine. At present, Western medicine has no specific drugs for CPID disease; the primary treatment is comprised of antibiotics that can easily lead to a series of adverse reactions.…”