Trial reportCNS neuroscience & therapeutics2026
Early Integration of Chinese Medicine Rehabilitation Improves Functional Outcomes in Stroke Patients: A Prospective Pragmatic Study and Nested Case-Control Analysis.
Trial report in CNS neuroscience & therapeutics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChinese medicine (acupuncture and herbal medicine) is widely used in post-stroke rehabilitation in Southeast Asia. However, evidence on its effectiveness and optimal timing remains inconclusive. This study aimed to determine whether early integration (≤ 6 months post-stroke) of individualized Chinese medicine rehabilitation (CMR) improves functional outcomes compared with delayed integration (> 6 months) in stroke survivors.
methodsThis prospective pragmatic study enrolled stroke survivors aged 35-90 years from five Hong Kong community centers following hospital discharge. All subjects received a 24-week individualized CMR scheme comprising acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) granules (administered thrice weekly for 24 weeks, totaling 72 sessions). Outcomes included the changes in activities of daily living (ADL; primary), mini-mental state examination (MMSE), and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score scale (TCMSSS). Effectiveness was assessed using linear mixed-effect models for repeated measures. Multivariate logistic regression identified factors associated with treatment response. In a post hoc nested case-control analysis, early CMR integration (≤ 6 months post-stroke) was compared with delayed integration (> 6 months) using 1:1 propensity score matching (age, sex, stroke number/type, baseline ADL, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, acupuncture sessions, CHM duration).
resultsA total of 398 patients were recruited, of whom 344 (86.6%) completed ≥ 75% of the treatments (≥ 54 sessions). After 24 weeks of treatment, significant improvements were observed in ADL (mean change 5.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.50 to 7.48), MMSE (1.21, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.55), and TCMSSS (-2.89, 95% CI -3.30 to -2.47). Multivariate logistic regression identified baseline ADL dependence (odds ratio [OR] 13.45, 95% CI 7.01 to 25.81), early CMR initiation (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.23 to 3.35), and lower baseline TCMSSS (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.91 to 0.98) as independent predictors of response. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with baseline ADL < 90 had markedly higher responder proportions (46.8% at 60 sessions, 53.6% at 72 sessions) than those with ADL ≥ 90 (9.4% and 12.3%, respectively; log-rank Ps < 0.001). Patients who initiated CMR within 6 months had significantly higher responder proportions at 72 sessions (42.9%) compared with those starting later (25.0%; log-rank p = 0.005). Propensity score matching confirmed that early integration yielded superior ADL (mean difference 3.89, 95% CI 1.30 to 6.48; p = 0.003) and TCMSSS (-0.86, 95% CI -1.69 to -0.04; p = 0.041) outcomes at Week 24. CMR scheme was well-tolerated, with no treatment-related adverse events observed.
conclusionInitiating CMR within 6 months post-stroke significantly enhances functional and neurological recovery compared with delayed initiation. These findings support integrating early, individualized CMR into standard stroke rehabilitation protocols.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.