[Clinical observation on auricular magnetotherapy for convalescent stroke patients with depression].

Objective: To observe the effect of auricular magnetotherapy on depression and quality of life in stroke patients with depression after recovery.

Methods: Ninety-three stroke patients with depression were randomly divided into a conventional group(a control group), a conventional combined with magnetotherapy group (an observation 1 group), a conventional combined with vaccaria seed group (an observation 2 group), 31 cases in each group. Conventional treatments were applied in the three groups. On the basis of conventional treatments, auricular magnetotherapy was added in the observation 1 group, and in the observation 2 group, vaccaria seed was applied at gan (CO), xin (CO), pi (CO), shen (CO), shenmen (TF), pizhixia (AT), press 3 times a day, replace once every 3 days, alternate ears and treating for 4 weeks. The scores of 17 Hamilton Depression Scales (HAMD-17) and stroke-specific quality of life scales (SS-QOL) were observed before and after treatment in each group. Depression was assessed at follow-up 4 weeks after treatment, and the clinical efficacy of each group was compared.

Results: A total of 83 cases completed the test. After treatment and follow-up, the scores of HAMD decreased in the observation 1 group and observation 2 group compared with that before treatment (all <0.01). The total score of HAMD in the observation 1 group was lower than that in the observation 2 group and control group (all <0.01). After treatment, the depression, suicide, initial insomnia, middle insomnia, final insomnia, work and interest dimension scores in the observation 1 group were lower than those in the observation 2 group and control group (<0.05, <0.01). Compared with that before treatment, the total score of SS-QOL in the observation 1 group increased (<0.01), and there was no significant difference in total score of SS-QOL before and after treatment in the observation 2 group and control group (both >0.05). After treatment, the total score of SS-QOL in the observation 1 group and observation 2 group were higher than that in the control group (<0.01, <0.05), there was no significant difference between the two groups (>0.05). The scores of energy, family characters, and emotional dimensions in the observation 1 group were higher than those in the observation 2 group and control group (<0.05, <0.01). The score of personality and upper limb function were higher than those in the control group (<0.05, <0.01); the score of the family role dimension of the observation 2 group was significantly higher than that in the control group (<0.01). The total effective rate in the observation 1 group was 72.4% (21/29), which was higher than 44.4% (12/27) in the observation 2 group (<0.05) and 11.1% (3/27) in the control group (<0.01).

Conclusion: Auricular magnetotherapy can improve the depressive symptoms of convalescent stroke patients with depression and improve their quality of life.