Psychological Outcomes From a Study of Acupuncture Treatment on Experimentally Primary Dysmenorrhea

Psychological Outcomes From a Study of Acupuncture Treatment on Experimentally Primary Dysmenorrhea

The objective of this study is to evaluate the associations between deqi, the effects of acupuncture and personality in primary dysmenorrhea and to characterize the nature of the deqi phenomenon on terms of the prevalence of sensations as well as the uniqueness of the sensations underlying the deqi experiment.

The mechanism, by which acupuncture works is not yet clear, therefore there is no unequivocal consensus about styles and sensations of acupuncture. whether psychological factor has influences on the effects of acupuncture? This study will adopt international practices such as visual analogue scale (VAS) to objective evaluation. The confident degree, feeling degree for acupuncture and pain intensity were evaluated by the patient with VAS, and the pain VAS scores before and after acupuncture were recorded as the indexes for assessment of the therapeutic effect.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Female, age between 18 and 30 years old, who had regular menstrual cycles (28-33 days);
2. Meeting diagnostic criteria for primary dysmenorrhea, having moderate to severe symptoms when unmedicated, and eligible for care through the military health system.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Secondary dysmenorrhea;
2. Women with systemic disease, or hormonal, psychiatric or gynecologic disorders, or substance abuse;
3. Pregnant or trying to conceive, using oral contraceptives, smoker, breast-feeding.