Chinese pediatric Tuina on children with acute diarrhea: a randomized sham-controlled trial
Lu T, Yin L, Chen R, Zhang H, Cai J, Li M, Dai L, Zhu C, Zhang Y, Xiang F, Wang L, Li L, Wang L, Wu D · Health and Quality of Life Outcomes · 2021 January 06
DOI 10.1186/s12955-020-01636-1
Objective
To investigate the effect of pediatric Tuina compared with sham Tuina as an add-on therapy to usual care for children aged 0-6 years with acute diarrhea.
Conclusions
Pediatric Tuina showed significant effects in reducing the number of diarrhea episodes compared with sham Tuina in children aged 0-6 years with acute diarrhea, although no significant differences were found in the duration of diarrhea, global change rating, or time for stool characteristics to return to normal.
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Insights
Pediatric Tuina may reduce diarrhea frequency in young children, but this apparent benefit disappeared after accounting for participant characteristics.
Children aged up to six years with acute diarrhea were randomly assigned to receive either pediatric Tuina or a sham version alongside usual care. The study compared diarrhea duration, diarrhea frequency after treatment, caregiver-reported overall change, time until stools returned to normal, and adverse events between groups.
Children receiving pediatric Tuina had fewer diarrhea episodes after treatment in the initial analyses than those receiving sham Tuina. However, this difference was no longer statistically clear after accounting for social, demographic, and clinical characteristics, and the groups did not differ in diarrhea duration, overall improvement, or time to normal stool characteristics.
