Jingjie Yu

Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI) in Chinese patients with psoriasis

BackgroundThe Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI) is a widely used instrument to measure the impact of psoriasis on patients. There has not been psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of PDI. The aim of this study was to evaluate its reliability and validity among Chinese patients with psoriasis.MethodsA multi-center, cross-sectional study was conducted at 9 hospitals including patients aged 18 years and over. Reliability was determined by internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha. Validity was assessed through convergent validity and known groups validity. Dimensionality of the PDI was examined by exploratory factor analysis in working patients and nonworking patients respectively.ResultsIn all, 831 patients were studied. Internal consistency of the PDI was satisfactory. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.91 for the total score and over 0.70 for each subscale of the PDI. Evidence of convergent validity of the PDI was proved by excellent and moderate to good correlations with the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and four subscales of the Short Form-36 (SF-36) (role-physical, bodily pain, social functioning, and role-emotional): r = 0.51-0.78. Known groups validity was confirmed that the PDI score discriminated well among patients with different severity of psoriasis. The dimensionality of the PDI was determined by the presence of two-factor structure for working patients and three-factor structure for nonworking patients which accounted for 57.3% and 62.3% of the variance respectively.ConclusionThe Chinese version of the PDI is a reliable and valid instrument to assess the impact of psoriasis on patients’ lives and could be used in future quality of life assessment of Chinese patients with psoriasis.

Disease-syndrome combination clinical study of psoriasis: Present status, advantages, and prospects

Psoriasis is an immune-abnormal, chronic, proliferative skin disease determined by polygenic inheritance and induced by a number of environmental factors. It causes worldwide concern because of its high-prevalence, harmful and incurable characteristics. Over the years, Chinese medicine (CM) treatment of psoriasis has accumulated a wealth of clinical experience. Disease-syndrome combination, which achieves more satisfactory clinical effect, is the basis to highlight the special CM advantages in treating psoriasis. In this paper, we review the advantages of treating psoriasis with the combination of disease and syndrome, analyze the prospects of research on treating psoriasis combining disease with syndrome. We also make a point that there are several key points for the clinical research of combination of disease and syndrome. It can be expected that carrying out clinical research on the combination of disease and syndrome will help improve the clinical efficacy of medical treatment of psoriasis, which will be the main direction of research in the future.

Acupuncture Therapies for Psoriasis Vulgaris: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

The purpose of this review was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapies in the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris. Embase, CENTRAL, PubMed, AMED, CINAHL, CNKI, CQVIP, CBM, and Wanfang databases were searched from inceptions to May 2013 for prospective randomized controlled trials evaluating acupuncture therapies for psoriasis vulgaris. No language limitations were applied. Studies were assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. The primary outcome was Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score. Six studies (involving 522 participants) met the eligibility criteria for this review, and 5 were included in quantitative analysis. Due to the diversity of interventions, comparators and reported outcomes, meta-analysis was not possible. Results from single studies produced conflicting results for the outcomes PASI reduction, lesion reduction (non-PASI), PASI score, and relapse rate. There is some evidence of benefit of acupuncture therapies for the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris. However, the conclusions are limited by the small number of included trials and conflicting results from single studies. More research is needed to clarify the effect of acupuncture therapies for psoriasis vulgaris.

Evidence-based Clinical Chinese Medicine Volume 3: Chronic Urticaria

In the third volume of the Evidence-based Clinical Chinese Medicine series, the authors focus on a challenging dermatological condition - chronic urticaria. Chronic urticaria can have a significant impact on quality of life, and while medical management can be effective, many people experience frequent and unpredictable recurrence. This book unearths treatments used in classical Chinese medicine textbooks, many of which are inaccessible to non-Chinese speaking Chinese medicine practitioners. Oral and topical Chinese herbal medicines used in pre-modern China for urticaria are identified, some of which are still in use today. Evidence from clinical studies has been subject to rigorous evaluation, with analyses conducted using the internationally recognized Cochrane-GRADE approach. Chinese herbal medicine formulas and acupuncture therapies which offer the most potential for treatment of chronic urticaria are highlighted. This book provides an easy to use reference for clinicians who are interested in Chinese medicine management of chronic urticaria. The authors are internationally recognized, well-respected leaders in the field of Chinese medicine and evidence-based medicine with strong track records in research.