Association of Acupuncture Treatment with Mortality of Type 2 Diabetes in China: Evidence of a Real-World Study

Abstract

The prevalence and mortality rates of diabetes are increasing globally, posing severe challenges to health systems. Acupuncture is used worldwide as a non-drug treatment for diabetes. However, empirical evidence of the effect of combined acupuncture and drug treatments on diabetic-associated mortality is limited. This study aimed to examine this association of acupuncture treatment with mortality of type 2 diabetes based on real-world data. A four-year cohort study was conducted in Shanghai between 2015 and 2018, The database consisted of 37,718 patients (acupuncture group: 6865 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients, non-acupuncture (control) group: 30,853 T2DM patients) in 2016. The objective was to analyze the impact of receiving acupuncture prescriptions for diabetes in 2016 on all-cause mortality in 2018 based on real-world data. An Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment (IPWRA) and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) were used to minimize the bias due to potential confounding variables to increase the reliability of differences in comparisons between the two groups. Our inverse probability weighted regression results suggest that the coefficient of the key dependent variable of accepted acupuncture in 2016 was negative (coefficient: −0.0002; 95% CI: −0.0024–0.0019, p = 0.857), but it is not statistically significant. In robustness check, PSM with the nearest-neighbor method with replacement at a 1:4 ratio and 1:3 ratio and kernel matching showed that the average treatment effect was negative. Therefore, there was a negative correlation between acupuncture combined with other drugs and the mortality of diabetic patients, but it was not statistically significant.

Comparative effectiveness of acupuncture and pharmacological interventions in treating diabetic stroke: A protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis

“…[13] There are several studies have reported the therapeutic effects of acupuncture in treating diabetic stroke; in clinical practice, acupuncture has been identified as an important method with promising results in regulating glycemic levels, decreasing the rate of stroke recurrence, repairing motor function, and improving life quality, with no apparent adverse reactions. [14][15][16] Acupuncture appears to be an attractive alternative to pharmacological intervention as a firstline treatment due to its comparatively fewer and less severe side-effects.…”

Effects of acupuncture on stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

“…However, problems such as serious adverse reactions, limited effects, and high final burden impact the therapeutic Studies have shown acupuncture's significant therapeutic effects in improving the conditions of diabetic stroke by affecting metabolism, repairing endothelial cells, and protecting the internal structure of neurons [6,7]. In clinical practice, acupuncture is commonly used in treating the symptoms relate to T2D and stroke; along with the clinical effects such as regulating glycemic levels, decreasing the rate of stroke recurrence, repairing motor function and improving life quality, acupuncture also presents the advantages of safety, cost-efficiency and convenience [8][9][10].…”