Acupuncture decreased the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with fibromyalgia in Taiwan: a nationwide matched cohort study

Table 1 Characteristics of patients with fibromyalgia in the present study

Variable	No acupuncture (n = 58,899)		Acupuncture (n = 58,899)		Standardized mean difference
Variable	n	%	n	%	Standardized mean difference
Sex
Female	33,331	56.59	33,447	56.79	0.004
Male	25,568	43.41	25,452	43.21
Age group, years
18–39	24,487	41.57	23,572	40.02	0.032
40–59	27,481	46.66	29,748	50.51	0.077
≥60	6931	11.77	5579	9.47	0.075
Mean (±SD), years	44.57 (15.43)		44.28 (14.44)		0.02
Baseline comorbidities
Diabetes mellitus	6252	10.61	6098	10.35	0.009
Hypertension	12,457	21.15	12,036	20.43	0.018
Hyperlipidemia	10,097	17.14	10,034	17.04	0.003
Congestive heart failure	569	0.97	508	0.86	0.011
Cerebrovascular diseases	4044	6.87	3786	6.43	0.018
Depression	2863	4.86	2840	4.82	0.002
Anxiety	6551	11.12	6600	11.21	0.003
Alcoholism or alcohol-related disorders	311	0.53	316	0.54	0.001
Tobacco dependence	289	0.49	270	0.46	0.005
Obesity	439	0.75	427	0.72	0.002
Drugs used
Oral steroids	39466	67.01	39495	67.06	0.001
NSAIDs	57613	97.82	57734	98.02	0.014
Statins	7971	13.53	7937	13.48	0.002
Types of acupuncture
Manual acupuncture of TCM type	–	–	50,470	85.69
Electroacupuncture	–	–	2142	3.64
Combination of manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture			6287	10.67
Duration between the initial diagnosis to the first acupuncture treatment, days, mean (median)	–		919 (574)
Acupuncture visits, mean	–		7.45
Follow-up duration, years, mean (median)	3.60 (3.02)		4.27 (3.79)

NSAIDs Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, TCM Traditional Chinese medicine

ISSN: 1478-6362