Auriculotherapy for lower urinary tract symptoms in older men: a 4-week, randomised controlled pilot study

Abstract Background Lower urinary tract symptoms, which commonly occur among older men, include urinary retention, voiding difficulty, frequent feeling of urinary urgency, and nocturia. Auriculotherapy, a Chinese medicine approach, is a therapeutic method in which specific points in the auricle are stimulated to achieve specific therapeutic purposes. This randomised controlled pilot study aimed to determine whether magneto-auriculotherapy alone or in combination with laser auriculotherapy is more effective than placebo for symptom relief and enhancement of quality of life. Methods Men aged at least 60 years with an International Prostate Symptom Score of 12 or greater (moderate to severe) were recruited from a residential home in Zhengzhou province, China. We recruited 40 men and randomly allocated to three groups decided by computer-generated randomised table: Group 1, combined auriculotherapy (laser auriculotherapy followed by magneto-auriculotherapy on six auricular points, N=14); Group 2, magneto-auriculotherapy only (placebo laser auriculotherapy followed by magneto-auriculotherapy, N=13); and control (placebo laser auriculotherapy followed by placebo magneto-auriculotherapy, N=13). To achieve the effect of evaluator blinding, another researcher who did not know the type of treatment modality received by the participants evaluated the treatment effect. Treatment was done on one ear at a time. The experimental objects were replaced every second day. Participants were assessed at baseline and after completion of the four-week treatment course. Outcome measures included International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS); Quality of life due to urinary symptoms (0=delighted to 6=terrible); maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax per second); post-void residual urine test (mL); and Pittsburgh sleep quality index. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT02330107 Ethical approval was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Review Committee, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Findings The mean age of participants was 74·90 years [SD 6·30], with a mean duration of lower urinary tract symptoms of 4·89 years [SD 5·08]. In Group 1, improvements were seen from baseline in lower urinary tract symptoms (mean 20·50 [SD 7·44] vs 13·08 [8·28], p=0·028), quality of life (4·64 [0·50] vs 3·17 [1·53], p=0·016), post-void residual urine (190·43 [117·20] vs 106·75 [79·72] mL, p=0·019) and sleep quality (7·86 [4·58] vs 2·92 [2·58], p=0·009). For patients in Group 2, si