hce_cmu
112年
英文
第 48 題
📖 題組：
The news that one of the Hollywood superstars was diagnosed the aphasia drew everyone’s attention on the causes and effects of such disease. According to the medical statistics in the USA, approximately one-third of stroke survivors suffer from impaired communication abilities, and 30%–42% of these patients have longstanding symptoms of aphasia, and the most common, Broca’s aphasia, is caused by lesions on anterior brain regions, which often require long-term care, leading to substantial economic and mental health burdens on the family and society. Community medical resources have confirmed that promoting full engagement with rehabilitation treatment for post-stroke patients has reduced the disability rate below 40% and increased activities of daily living by 35%. In addition, intensive speech and language therapy (SLT) improves the functional reorganization of the central nervous system; however, high-intensity and high-dose interventions may not be acceptable to all patients. Therefore, other treatments adjunct to SLT might be useful. More specifically, while intensive SLT is effective, recent evidence suggests that scalp acupuncture therapy (SAT) may have beneficial effects on comprehension, oral expression, repetition, denomination, reading and writing in postapoplectic aphasia (Tang, Tang, & Yang, 2019). One research group from Taiwan (Liu, Huang, Xu, Wu, Tao, & Chen, 2021) tried to appraise the cost-effectiveness of combining SAT with SLT community patients with Broca’s aphasia after stroke, compared to SLT alone. They found that combination therapy was cost-effective and reduced the use of non-standard treatments and medications, leading to lower direct non-medical costs and self-paid expenses. In Liu et al.’s (2021) research, a within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis was applied among 203 participants with Broca’s aphasia after stroke who had been randomly assigned to receive scalp acupuncture with SLT (intervention) or SLT alone (control). Both groups underwent SLT, which roughly last 30 minutes each day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks; while the intervention group simultaneously received scalp acupuncture. Moreover, outcomes were measured using informal assessments and self-report questionnaires and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated as a measure of the additional costs necessary to achieve greater treatment outcomes. The results of this economic analysis revealed that patients receiving combination therapy reduced their use of non-standard treatment interventions and medications, reflected in reduced direct non-medical costs and self-paid expenses. Combination therapy was less costly than SLT alone calculated according to the modified intention-to-treat principle. In other words, SAT is a cost-effective treatment option for patients with Broca’s aphasia after stroke, compared to SLT alone. In short, the study, which included the first economic evaluation of acupuncture treatment in patients with Broca’s aphasia after stroke, had valuable findings and methodological limitations. There are only a few studies on acupuncture treatment in patients with Broca’s aphasia after stroke, Liu et al. (2021) concluded that acupuncture seems to be effective in improving post-stroke aphasia, functional communication and language function, and the best curative effect was achieved with the combination of acupuncture with speech and language training. Potential limitations included lack of blinding, variability of treatment regimens, and a heterogeneous patient sample. While SAT appears to be an effective treatment for post-stroke aphasia, the real-world implementation of SAT in low-income and middle-income countries and regions may be restricted by poor acupuncture services, inefficient systems, and a deficiency of therapists. Standardized education and training for the public, community physicians, and government agencies are needed to improve awareness of the benefits and cost-effectiveness of SAT. Still, although the effects of acupuncture appear to be persistent as the differences between the groups were slightly larger after 12 weeks follow-up investigation than those who received immediately post-treatment, long-lasting health economic effects require further study.
The news that one of the Hollywood superstars was diagnosed the aphasia drew everyone’s attention on the causes and effects of such disease. According to the medical statistics in the USA, approximately one-third of stroke survivors suffer from impaired communication abilities, and 30%–42% of these patients have longstanding symptoms of aphasia, and the most common, Broca’s aphasia, is caused by lesions on anterior brain regions, which often require long-term care, leading to substantial economic and mental health burdens on the family and society. Community medical resources have confirmed that promoting full engagement with rehabilitation treatment for post-stroke patients has reduced the disability rate below 40% and increased activities of daily living by 35%. In addition, intensive speech and language therapy (SLT) improves the functional reorganization of the central nervous system; however, high-intensity and high-dose interventions may not be acceptable to all patients. Therefore, other treatments adjunct to SLT might be useful. More specifically, while intensive SLT is effective, recent evidence suggests that scalp acupuncture therapy (SAT) may have beneficial effects on comprehension, oral expression, repetition, denomination, reading and writing in postapoplectic aphasia (Tang, Tang, & Yang, 2019). One research group from Taiwan (Liu, Huang, Xu, Wu, Tao, & Chen, 2021) tried to appraise the cost-effectiveness of combining SAT with SLT community patients with Broca’s aphasia after stroke, compared to SLT alone. They found that combination therapy was cost-effective and reduced the use of non-standard treatments and medications, leading to lower direct non-medical costs and self-paid expenses. In Liu et al.’s (2021) research, a within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis was applied among 203 participants with Broca’s aphasia after stroke who had been randomly assigned to receive scalp acupuncture with SLT (intervention) or SLT alone (control). Both groups underwent SLT, which roughly last 30 minutes each day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks; while the intervention group simultaneously received scalp acupuncture. Moreover, outcomes were measured using informal assessments and self-report questionnaires and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated as a measure of the additional costs necessary to achieve greater treatment outcomes. The results of this economic analysis revealed that patients receiving combination therapy reduced their use of non-standard treatment interventions and medications, reflected in reduced direct non-medical costs and self-paid expenses. Combination therapy was less costly than SLT alone calculated according to the modified intention-to-treat principle. In other words, SAT is a cost-effective treatment option for patients with Broca’s aphasia after stroke, compared to SLT alone. In short, the study, which included the first economic evaluation of acupuncture treatment in patients with Broca’s aphasia after stroke, had valuable findings and methodological limitations. There are only a few studies on acupuncture treatment in patients with Broca’s aphasia after stroke, Liu et al. (2021) concluded that acupuncture seems to be effective in improving post-stroke aphasia, functional communication and language function, and the best curative effect was achieved with the combination of acupuncture with speech and language training. Potential limitations included lack of blinding, variability of treatment regimens, and a heterogeneous patient sample. While SAT appears to be an effective treatment for post-stroke aphasia, the real-world implementation of SAT in low-income and middle-income countries and regions may be restricted by poor acupuncture services, inefficient systems, and a deficiency of therapists. Standardized education and training for the public, community physicians, and government agencies are needed to improve awareness of the benefits and cost-effectiveness of SAT. Still, although the effects of acupuncture appear to be persistent as the differences between the groups were slightly larger after 12 weeks follow-up investigation than those who received immediately post-treatment, long-lasting health economic effects require further study.
What information was true in Liu et al.’s design of research?
- A Different instruments were used to collect data such as questionnaires.
- B A total of 203 participants with Broca’s aphasia were equally allotted.
- C Both groups applied the SAT to determine the medical effects.
- D The data collection lasted for one month approximately.
思路引導 VIP
請試著回到文章第四段，尋找關鍵字「outcomes were measured...」。在這個句子中，作者提到了哪兩項具體的工具或方法，用來記錄病患在治療後的變化呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
同學觀察得非常仔細！你能從長篇的學術研究報導中，精確鎖定描述「研究設計（design of research）」的關鍵段落並選出正確答案，展現了優異的資訊檢索與細節辨析能力。
數據蒐集工具的多元性
這題的正確關鍵在於文中第四段提到的 "outcomes were measured using informal assessments and self-report questionnaires"（研究結果是透過非正式評估與自填問卷來衡量的）。這句話直接對應了選項 (A) 中提到的「使用不同的工具（如問卷）來蒐集數據」。相較之下，選項 (D) 雖然提到療程為期 4 週，但文末也提到了 12 週的後續追蹤（follow-up investigation），因此數據蒐集時間顯然不只一個月；而選項 (C) 則誤解了對照組的設置，只有干預組（intervention group）接受了頭皮針灸（SAT）。
▼ 還有更多解析內容