Electroacupuncture improves psychosocial outcomes in rectal cancer patients with bowel dysfunction

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients with low anterior resection syndrome undergoing electroacupuncture or standard postoperative care (n = 100), mean ± SD/n (%)

Characteristics	Electroacupuncture group (n = 50)	Control group (n = 50)	Test statistic1	P value2
Demographic variables
Age, years	61.2 ± 8.5	62.1 ± 7.9	t = 0.641	0.523
Sex			χ2 = 0.168	0.682
Male	30 (60)	28 (56)
Female	20 (40)	22 (44)
Body mass index, kg/m2	23.7 ± 3.2	24.1 ± 3.5	t = 0.685	0.497
Education level ≥ high school	38 (76)	36 (72)	χ2 = 0.202	0.653
Employment status			χ2 = 0.158	0.691
Employed	29 (58)	27 (54)
Unemployed	21 (42)	23 (46)
Comorbidities
Hypertension	17 (34)	19 (38)	χ2 = 0.164	0.685
Diabetes mellitus	10 (20)	9 (18)	χ2 = 0.072	0.791
Smoking history	12 (24)	14 (28)	χ2 = 0.214	0.644
Surgical and oncological characteristics
TNM stage			χ2 = 0.410	0.815
Stage I	8 (16)	7 (14)
Stage II	26 (52)	24 (48)
Stage III	16 (32)	19 (38)
Time since surgery, months	10.3 ± 4.1	10.8 ± 4.4	t = 0.567	0.571
Anastomosis level from anal verge, cm	5.1 ± 0.8	5.2 ± 0.9	t = 0.779	0.438
Type of surgery			χ2 = 0.319	0.573
Laparoscopic	43 (86)	41 (82)
Open	7 (14)	9 (18)
Neoadjuvant radiotherapy	18 (36)	20 (40)	χ2 = 0.170	0.684
Functional status
LARS score (0-42)	32.4 ± 5.6	31.9 ± 5.9	t = 0.426	0.672
LARS severity category			χ2 = 0.040	0.842
Moderate (21-29)	22 (44)	21 (42)
Severe (≥ 30)	28 (56)	29 (58)
Baseline quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 total)	56.3 ± 8.9	57.0 ± 9.1	t = 0.437	0.664
Psychological characteristics
Anxiety score (HADS-A, 0-21)	8.1 ± 3.2	8.5 ± 3.5	t = 0.610	0.544
Depression score (HADS-D, 0-21)	7.6 ± 3.4	7.9 ± 3.7	t = 0.427	0.671
General self-efficacy (GSES, 10-40)	28.2 ± 4.5	27.6 ± 5.1	t = 0.692	0.493
Perceived social support (PSSS, 12-84)	59.4 ± 8.9	58.1 ± 9.5	t = 0.796	0.428
Coping strategy score (Brief COPE, 14-56)	38.5 ± 6.1	37.9 ± 6.4	t = 0.561	0.577
Body image disturbance (BIS, 0-30)	12.7 ± 4.3	13.1 ± 4.7	t = 0.460	0.649

¹Independent-sample t test for continuous variables; χ² for categorical variables, test statistics are rounded to three significant digits.

²P < 0.05 considered statistically significant.

TNM: Tumor-nodes-metastasis; LARS: Low anterior resection syndrome; EORTC QLQ-C30: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30; HADS-A: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale; HADS-D: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression subscale; GSES: General Self-Efficacy Scale; PSSS: Perceived Social Support Scale; COPE: Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced; BIS: Body Image Scale.