Clinical trial NCT02725697: Treatment of Complaints Following Sports Injuries With Traditional Chinese Medicine
Official title: Treatment of Acute and Chronic Complaints Following Sports Injuries With Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by Therapists in Switzerland - a Prospective Observational Study
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: TERMINATED
Conditions: Athletic Injuries
Lead sponsor: Swiss Professional Organization for Traditional Chinese Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2016-04-01
Enrollment: 2
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: CASE_ONLY
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Patients seeking TCM treatment due to complaints following sports injuries.

Brief summary: The purpose of this observational study is to investigate the treatment of complaints following sports injuries with Traditional Chinese Medicine by therapists in Switzerland.

Detailed description: In Switzerland, still very little is known about the treatment with TCM (acupuncture, Chinese medicinal therapy, Tuina massage, nutrition, qigong) under everyday conditions. The importance of non-medical therapists in the healthcare system is rarely investigated. It is likely that patients with chronic injuries use several therapies (including conventional medicine) in a pragmatic way. They may apply TCM either due to primary preference or because other forms of therapy fail to produce satisfactory results.

There is evidence from randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews that acupuncture can be effective in the treatment of acute and chronic back pain, chronic shoulder pain and ankle sprains.

Randomized controlled trials usually investigate a single TCM method, in which therapists or physicians are limited in the selection of acupuncture points or herbal formulas. This does not reflect the complex practice, where several TCM methods and auxiliary techniques are combined.

The investigators aim to investigate in a prospective observational study how complaints following sports injuries are treated by non-medical TCM therapists in Switzerland under everyday conditions.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 18 years or older
* minimum of 3 hours sports per week
* complaints following sports injury
* first TCM treatment for this complaint

Exclusion Criteria:

* rheumatic disease
* arthrosis
* previous TCM treatment for this complaint

Primary outcomes:
measure: change in minimal and maximal pain
timeFrame: first treatment, last treatment (max. 3 months)
measure: change in limitation during sports
timeFrame: first treatment, last treatment (max. 3 months)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: medication intake
timeFrame: first treatment, last treatment (max. 3 months)
measure: patient satisfaction with therapy
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: number of therapeutic sessions
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: TCM methods applied
timeFrame: 3 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Horgen
country: Switzerland
facility: Poliklinik für Chinesische Medizin
state: ZH
city: Zürich
country: Switzerland
facility: Praxis für TCM
state: ZH
city: Zürich
country: Switzerland
facility: proSANUS
state: ZH
Study officials:
affiliation: Swiss Professional Organization for Traditional Chinese Medicine
name: Sabine D Klein, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Klein SD, Frei-Erb M, Wolf U. Usage of complementary medicine across Switzerland: results of the Swiss Health Survey 2007. Swiss Med Wkly. 2012 Aug 15;142:w13666. doi: 10.4414/smw.2012.13666. eCollection 2012.
citation: Michlig M, Ausfeld-Hafter B, Busato A. Patient satisfaction with primary care: a comparison between conventional care and traditional Chinese medicine. Complement Ther Med. 2008 Dec;16(6):350-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2007.12.001. Epub 2008 Feb 4.
citation: Lin ZP, Chen YH, Chia F, Wu HJ, Lan LW, Lin JG. Episodes of injuries and frequent usage of traditional Chinese medicine for Taiwanese elite wrestling athletes. Am J Chin Med. 2011;39(2):233-41. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X11008774.
citation: Malone MA, Gloyer K. Complementary and alternative treatments in sports medicine. Prim Care. 2013 Dec;40(4):945-68, ix. doi: 10.1016/j.pop.2013.08.010. Epub 2013 Sep 26.
citation: Park J, Hahn S, Park JY, Park HJ, Lee H. Acupuncture for ankle sprain: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013 Mar 4;13:55. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-55.