title: Randomized controlled multicenter clinical trial for integrated treatment of community-acquired pneumonia based on traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment based on syndrome differentiation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 240 CAP patients were randomly divided into the following two groups: the control group was treated by anti-infection plus conventional medicine treatment; and the trial group was treated by TCM plus the above-mentioned treatment given to the controls. The course of treatment was 14 days, and the patients were followed up for 7 days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 240 patients, 235 accomplished the whole process of treatment. The five patients who withdrew from the study were brought into an intent-to-treat analysis. The therapeutic effects of the trial group were superior to those of the control group (P < 0.01). The trial group took less time to become clinically stable, with a higher score in the quality of life (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in mortality rate (P > 0.05), white blood cell count (P > 0.05), bacterial clearance rate (P > 0.05), and adverse reactions between the two integrated groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment based on TCM syndrome differentiation for CAP has the advantages of resulting in less time to achieve a stable clinical condition, improvement of clinical symptoms and quality of life, and is comparatively safe.
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450000, China. li_js8@163.com
authors: Jiansheng
authors: J
authors: Li
authors: Xueqing
authors: X
authors: Yu
authors: Suyun
authors: S
authors: Li
authors: Haifeng
authors: H
authors: Wang
authors: Yunping
authors: Y
authors: Bai
authors: Minghang
authors: M
authors: Wang
authors: Zikai
authors: Z
authors: Sun
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Zhang
authors: Zhaoshan
authors: Z
authors: Zhou
authors: Xianhua
authors: X
authors: Jia
authors: Qingwei
authors: Q
authors: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal