Risk factors related to acupuncture response in postmenopausal women with stress urinary incontinence : Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Postmenopausal women are at a higher risk of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). In a previous trial, electroacupuncture (EA) was shown to be an effective treatment for women with SUI. Here we present a secondary analysis to investigate the specific factors associated with response to acupuncture therapy among postmenopausal women with SUI. We conducted secondary analysis of data from a multicenter randomized controlled trial. This trial included a baseline period of 1 week and a treatment period of 6 weeks with electroacupuncture (EA) or sham electroacupuncture (SA). The patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups (EA group or SA group). Participants who showed a decrease in urine leakage by at least 50% from baseline level, as measured by 1-hour pad at week 6, were defined as responders. Baseline characteristics associated with response to acupuncture therapy (e.g., demographic, comorbidities, and lifestyle-related factors) were identified by logistic regression analysis and the interactions between treatment assignment and baseline characteristics assessed. This analysis included a total of 349 postmenopausal women, of whom 137 (39.3%) were classified as responders. Response rate in the EA group was significantly higher than that in the SA group (60.9% vs 18.9%, respectively; P