Association of Patients’ Characteristics with Acupuncture Treatment Outcomes in Treating Bell’s Palsy: Results from a Randomised Controlled Trial
Table 2
Demographical and clinical characteristics of the subjectsa.
Characteristic
Complete recovery (N = 698)
Incomplete recovery (N = 128)
Total (N = 826)
P value
Age
39.35 (14.03)
45.06 (14.47)
40.23 (14.24)
<0.001
Gender
Male
367 (52.6)
76 (59.4)
443 (53.6)
0.156
Female
331 (47.4)
52 (40.6)
383 (46.4)
BMI
23.48 (3.22)
24.57 (3.77)
23.65 (3.33)
0.002
Occupation
White-collar
312 (44.7)
53 (41.4)
365 (44.2)
0.203
Worker or farmer
161 (23.1)
27 (21.1)
188 (22.8)
Student
70 (10.0)
9 (7.0)
79 (9.6)
Retired or not working
155 (22.2)
39 (30.5)
194 (23.5)
Educational level
Nonuniversity degree
372 (53.3)
77 (60.2)
449 (54.4)
0.152
University or postgraduate degree
326 (46.7)
51 (39.8)
377 (45.6)
Marital status
Married
522 (74.8)
108 (84.4)
630 (76.3)
0.019
Not married
176 (25.2)
20 (15.6)
196 (23.7)
Side of palsy
Left
347 (49.7)
64 (50.0)
411 (49.8)
0.952
Right
351 (50.3)
64 (50.0)
415 (50.2)
Nerve lesion site
Below the chorda tympani
458 (65.6)
61 (47.7)
519 (62.8)
<0.001
At or above the chorda tympani
240 (34.4)
67 (52.3)
307 (37.2)
Onset season
Spring
178 (25.5)
38 (29.7)
216 (26.2)
0.419
Summer
205 (29.4)
29 (22.7)
234 (28.3)
Autumn
129 (18.5)
23 (18.0)
152 (18.4)
Winter
186 (26.6)
38 (29.7)
224 (27.1)
Duration of the disease from onset to treatment
Acute stage
359 (51.4)
50 (39.1)
409 (49.5)
<0.001
Resting stage
262 (37.5)
25 (19.5)
287 (34.7)
Recovery stage
77 (11.0)
53 (41.4)
130 (15.7)
History of acupuncture
No
412 (59.0)
42 (32.8)
454 (55.0)
<0.001
Yes
286 (41.0)
86 (67.2)
372 (45.0)
Comorbidity
No
651 (93.3)
112 (87.5)
763 (92.4)
0.024
Yes
47 (6.7)
16 (12.5)
63 (7.6)
Initial HB gradec
3 (3-4)
4 (4-5)
4 (3-4)
<0.001
Type of treatmentd
A
142 (20.3)
24 (18.8)
166 (20.1)
0.387
B
144 (20.6)
21 (16.4)
165 (20.0)
C
134 (19.2)
34 (26.6)
168 (20.3)
D
137 (19.6)
23 (18.0)
160 (19.4)
E
141 (20.2)
26 (20.3)
167 (20.2)
BMI, body mass index. aData are expressed as the number of patients (%), unless otherwise indicated. bA threshold of was used to select the variables for the logistic regression analysis. cInitial HB grades were expressed as medians and interquartile ranges. dA indicates manual acupuncture, B indicates manual acupuncture + moxibustion, C indicates manual acupuncture + electroacupuncture, D indicates manual acupuncture + acupuncture along the yangming musculature, and E indicates manual acupuncture, regardless of which stage of the disease the patients were in.
