<p style="text-align: center;">Chun-Chuan Shih1,2,3</p><p style="text-align: center;">(1School of Chinese Medicine for Post-Baccalaureate, College of Medicine, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan，China; 2Ph.D. Program for Clinical Drug Discovery from Botanical Herbs, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan， China; 3Chinese Medical Association of Acupuncture, Taichung, Taiwan, China )</p><p><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Abstract: Background:Acupuncture treatment is common among stroke patients, but there is limited information availableon whether acupuncture effectively prevents post-stroke pneumonia. The aim of this study was to analyze the differential risk of pneumonia after stroke between patients who did and did notreceive acupuncture after discharge.Methods: We used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to conduct a retrospective cohort study using propensity score matched-pairs of new stroke patients in 2000-2004 who didand did not receive acupuncture post-stroke. Both cohorts were followedup until the end of 2009 for new-onset pneumonia. After correcting for immortal time bias, the incidence and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of pneumonia associated with acupuncture use were calculated using multivariate Cox proportional hazard models.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Results: Overall, 13,013 stroke patients with 13,013 paired controls were included in the analysis; pneumonia was diagnosed in 7118 (27.3%). Stroke patients receiving acupuncture had a lower incidence of pneumonia than those without acupuncture (54.2 vs. 59.8 per 1000 person-years), with an adjusted HR of 0.85 (95% CI 0.82-0.90). The association between pneumonia risk and acupuncture use was significant in men (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.86-0.96) and women (HR 0.77, 95% 0.71-0.83) and was also observed in every age group from 20-79 years.Conclusion: Stroke patients receiving acupuncture had a lower risk of pneumonia than those who did not. Further randomized control studies are needed to validate the protective effect of acupuncture on the risk of pneumoniaamong stroke patients.</p><p><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Key Words: Acupuncture; Stroke; Pneumonia</p><p><br/></p><p style="text-align: center;">中风病人接受针灸治疗后减少肺炎感染之研究</p><p style="text-align: center;">施纯全^1,2,3</p><p><br/></p><p style="text-align: center;">(1.义守大学学士后中医学系，中国高雄台湾 2.台北医学大学中草药临床药物研发博士学位学程，中国台北台湾</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;3.中华针灸医学会，中国台中台湾)</p><p><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify;">摘要:研究目的:针灸治疗为中风患者常使用的治疗方法，但目前尚未有相关研究能指出针灸是否能有效预防中风后肺炎。本研究的目的主要探讨中风病人出院后是否接受针灸治疗之风险差异。研究方法:本研究使用台湾全民健康保险研究数据库，并透过倾向分数配对以分析2000-2004年首次中风病人中风后是否进行针灸治疗。两组中风患者将追踪是否罹患肺炎至2009年底。经过不死时间(Immortal time)校正后，本研究使用Cox比例风险模式计算肺炎发生率、风险比以及95%信赖区间。结果:整体而言，共有13013名中风病人进行配对，罹患肺炎的人共有7118人(27. 3%)。有使用针灸的中风病人肺炎发生率低于未使用针灸的中风病人(54.2 vs. 59.8每1000人年)，校正后的风险比(HR)为0.85(95%CI:0.82-0.90)。中风后肺炎风险及针灸使用之相关性与男性(HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.86-0.96)、女性(HR 0.77, 95% 0.71-0.83)以及20-79岁所有年龄层均有统计上显著差异。结论:接受针灸治疗的中风病人发生肺炎的风险比未接受针灸治疗的中风病人低。本研究可进一步利用随机对照研究来验证针灸对中风病人肺炎风险的保护作用。</p><p style="text-align: justify;">关键字：针灸;中风;肺炎</p><p><br/></p>