title: [Observation on therapeutic effect of dog-day acupuncture and moxibustion combined with pelvic floor muscle exercises for treatment of female stress urinary incontinence].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the clinical effect of dog-day acupuncture and tortoise-shell moxibustion combined with pelvic floor muscle exercises for treatment of female stress urinary incontinence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy one cases were randomly divided into two groups. Thirty six cases in the observation group were treated with acupuncture on Zhongji (CV 3), Zigong (EX-CA 1), Chize (LU 5) etc. and tortoise-shell moxibustion on Shenque (CV 8) combined with pelvic floor muscle exercises; while thirty five cases in the control group were treated with only pelvic floor muscle exercises. The scores of the International Consultation Committee on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form (ICI-Q-SF) and the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-36 (SF-36) were evaluated before and after treatment, and the scores of SF-36 were also compared with 35 cases in normal group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total effective rate of 91.7% in the observation group was higher than that of 77.1% in the control group (P < 0.05). The dimensions of SF-36 of stress urinary incontinence patients were remarkably lower than those of normal group (all P < 0.05). The scores of ICI-Q-SF were decreased while the scores of SF-36 were increased obviously after treatment in both the observation group and the control group, there were pronounced improvements on physiological function, pain, physical activity, social function and affection function in the observation group (all P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The quality of life for female stress urinary incontinence patients may be poor, however the dog-day acupuncture and tortoise-shell moxibustion combined with pelvic floor muscle exercises can improve the symptoms of urinary incontinence and increase the quality of life of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture and Massage, Kunshan Hospital of TCM, Kunshan 215300, China. tcl0225@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Chun-lin
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: De-chun
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Wei-fang
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: You-you
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Lin-feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: Gui-feng
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009071:Moxibustion; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D009132:Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*