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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Family Medicine and Primary Care
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1519588
This article is part of the Research Topic The Increasing Relevance of Traditional Medicine Systems for the Primary Health Care Sector and General Practice: Global Research Perspectives – Volume II View all 4 articles

Impact of Acupuncture on Mortality in Patients with Disabilities and Newly Diagnosed Heart Failure: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Provisionally accepted
Hyungsun Jun Hyungsun Jun 1Dasol Park Dasol Park 1Jae-Uk Sul Jae-Uk Sul 2Moon Joo Cheong Moon Joo Cheong 1HAERIM KIM HAERIM KIM 3Inae Youn Inae Youn 4*Jungtae Leem Jungtae Leem 1*
  • 1 Wonkwang University, Iksan, Republic of Korea
  • 2 Dongshin University, Naju, South Jeolla, Republic of Korea
  • 3 University of Seoul, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 4 National Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: People with disabilities have high rates of cardiovascular diseases and mortality, and heart failure can worsen their condition. Therefore, preventing and managing cardiovascular diseases is particularly important for this population. Although acupuncture has been used for heart failure, research on its impact on mortality is limited. Given the unique pathophysiological characteristics of people with disabilities, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of acupuncture on mortality in those newly diagnosed with heart failure.This retrospective cohort study used data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service, focusing on people with disabilities diagnosed with heart failure between 2014 and 2016.Acupuncture exposure within one year of diagnosis was assessed by dividing the participants into acupuncture-exposed and non-exposed groups. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to adjust for group differences, and all-cause mortality was tracked for three years. Cox proportional hazard models were employed to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and confidence intervals (CIs). Dose-response relationships were also analyzed by dividing acupuncture frequency into quartiles.Results: After PSM, 21,001 individuals were included in both groups. The acupuncture-exposed group had a 20% lower risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.76-0.84) than those in the non-exposed group. Higher acupuncture doses were associated with a greater reduction in mortality, with the highest dose group showing a 36% lower risk (adjusted HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.58-0.69) than those in the non-exposed group. The subgroup analysis showed a consistent reduction in mortality across most groups, particularly in women, older adults, higher-income individuals, and those with severe disabilities.This study suggests that acupuncture exposure is associated with reduced mortality in people with disabilities who are newly diagnosed with heart failure. While several limitations exist, we highlight the potential role of acupuncture in managing cardiovascular diseases in this population and encourage further research to support healthcare policies.

    Keywords: People with disabilities, Heart Failure, Acupuncture, Mortality, Retrospective cohort study

    Received: 30 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Jun, Park, Sul, Cheong, KIM, Youn and Leem. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Inae Youn, National Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
    Jungtae Leem, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Republic of Korea

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