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Purpose:
There was rare study to evaluate the change of the meridian energy among breast cancer patients during chemotherapy. Therefore, the primary purpose of the study was to describe the change of the meridian energy, symptom severity and interference among the patients with breast carcinoma receiving the chemotherapy. Also, the study explored the factors to predict the meridian energy.
Methods:
A longitudinal study was carried out with 121 patients at four teaching hospitals in the north of Taiwan. The researcher recruited the subjects from July 1st, 2009 to February 28th, 2011. The researcher collected data at the pre-treatment, and the 1st and 3rd month after the treatment. The meridian energy was examined by using the Meridian Energy Analysis Device Me-Pro. The symptom severity and interference was assessed by the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Taiwan version.
Results:
As time went by, the patients had the worse overall meridian energy and symptom severity. Older women had lower overall meridian energy. The symptom severity is the strong factors to predict the deteriorated overall meridian energy. The patients who used traditional Chinese medicine had higher overall meridian energy and who used mind-body medicine had lower overall meridian energy.
Conclusion:
The overall meridian energy and symptom severity among the patients still deteriorated during chemotherapy. TCM doctors should observe the change of the symptoms and give some treatments to alleviate the symptoms and even to ameliorate the meridian energy. Whether using traditional Chinese medicine could improve overall health or not is worth doing further studies.