穴位電刺激及針灸對老年人注意力網絡之影響

The Effect of Electro-Acustimulation and Acupuncture on Attention Networks of the Elderly

目的：瞭解穴位電刺激及針灸對老年人注意力網絡功能的影響。材料和方法：招募75 位年齡61-80 歲之研究參與者分為針灸組、電刺激組、偽電刺激組。於雙手合谷、內關穴進行針刺、穴位電刺激及偽電刺激。以注意力網絡測驗為評估工具記錄反應時間及正確率並計算注意力網絡功能分數。透過成對樣本t 檢定，分析注意力網絡功能分數是否有顯著差異（P < 0.05）。結果：注意力網絡功能分數前後測相比，穴位電刺激組之警覺性功能顯著提升，針灸組及偽電刺激組未有顯著差異。結論：本研究為首篇結合穴位刺激與注意力網絡於年長者的研究。結果顯示於合谷及內關穴進行穴位電刺激可造成年長者警覺性功能的增進。而針刺治療未造成預期中的改變可能來自於治療劑量不夠，於未來研究中可採用療程治療後再進行評估。本實驗招募之研究參與者為一般健康老年族群，未來可進一步針對輕度認知障礙（Mild Cognitive Impairment）或其他罹患注意力缺失的群體進行研究。

 

Objective: To evaluate the effects of both electro-acustimulation and acupuncture on the attention network performance of the elderly. Materials and Methods: 75 participants aged 61 to 80 years were recruited into the study; divided into three groups according to treatments, acupuncture (A) group, electro-acustimulation (EA) group, and sham electro-acustimulation (SEA) group. The acupoints LI-4 (HeGu point) and PC-6 (NeiGuan point) on both hands were selected. A modified version of attention network test was used to evaluate the attention network performance of three groups. The reaction time and accuracy were recorded. A paired t-test was performed to determine the difference between pretest and posttest within group. The p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Participants in EA group showed significantly stronger alerting effect after the treatment, whereas participants in A group and SEA group did not. Conclusion: This is the first study to our knowledge to combine the acustimulation and attention networks of the elderly. As a result, EA improved the alerting effect in the attention network of the elderly. The reason using acupuncture showed no significant improvement in A group was probably under dosage. We suggested increasing frequency and duration of acupuncture for further research. The current participants in this study were the healthy elderly. We may enroll participants diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, such as mild cognitive impairment or other related disease in subsequent studies.