Clinical Study on Vascular Dementia Treated by Electroacupuncture at Neck Points plus Scalp Acupuncture

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effects of combined electroacupuncture at neck points and scalp acupuncture on vascular dementia based on the conventional treatment.Methods The 80 subjects diagnosed with vascular dementia were randomized into three groups,namely combined acupuncture group(27 cases)(treated by combined electroacupuncture at neck points and scalp acupuncture),conventional acupuncture group(25 cases),and control group(28 cases).The treatment results were evaluated by using Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE) and Barthel Index before and after treatment.Results The total effective rate was 92% in the combined acupuncture group,versus 89% in the conventional acupuncture group and 83% in the control group,and the inter-group comparison showed significant differences(P0.01).The intra-group comparison detected significant differences on MMSE and Barthel Index between pre-treatment and post-treatment in the three groups(P0.01).The inter-group comparison of MMSE and Barthel Index after treatment showed that the results in the combined acupuncture group and conventional acupuncture group were both significantly better than in the control group(P0.05),and the result in the combined acupuncture group was markedly better than in the conventional acupuncture group(P0.05).Conclusion The scores of MMSE and Barthel Index in the three groups all increased after treatment,with a better result in the combined acupuncture group compared with the conventional acupuncture group and control group.