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Wang et al. | Journal of Clinical and Translational Research 2024; 10(2): 159-164 161
the scale within 30 s to indicate the pain intensity, which was rated 3. Results
from 0 to 10: 0: No pain; 1 – 3: Mild/moderate pain; 4 – 6: Severe
pain; 7 – 10: Very severe pain/most severe pain imaginable [10]. 3.1. Sample characteristics
2.3.2. PHQ A total of 58 patients diagnosed with herpes zoster were
recruited from the outpatient dermatology department of the
PHQ-9 was used to assess symptoms of depression and First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Medical College between April
measure the response to treatment. Each item was rated on a four- and August 2022. The patients were divided into two groups:
point scale, and the responses were summed to provide a total 29 patients in the experimental group and 29 patients in the
score ranging from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating a greater control group. Within the experimental group, there were 16 male
frequency of symptoms [11,12]. and 13 female patients with an average age of 52.47 ± 3.28 years,
ranging from 35 to 68 years. In general, the duration from
2.3.3. GAD assessment herpes zoster onset was 14–21 days [16], while the average
GAD-7 was used to measure symptoms of generalized anxiety duration of this study was 11.35 ± 2.78 days. The control group
before treatment and 2 weeks after treatment [13]. The items were consisted of 15 male and 14 female patients with an average age
graded based on the Likert scale (i.e., 0: not at all; 1: several days; of 55.63 ± 4.96 years, ranging from 37 to 71 years. The average
2: more than half the days; and 3: nearly every day), where the duration from herpes zoster onset was 15.17 ± 3.32 days, ranging
total scores could range from 0 to 21. We used the Chinese version from 9 to 24 days. Statistical analysis revealed that there were no
of the GAD-7, which was validated in a previous study [14]. In significant differences in gender and age between the two groups
this study, patients completed the GAD-7 within a short time (P > 0.05), ensuring their comparability. However, a statistically
(approximately 3 min). significant difference was observed in the duration from herpes
zoster onset between the groups (P < 0.05).
2.4. Observational analysis
3.2. Comparison of VAS scores of both groups before and after
The levels of pain, anxiety, and depression of the patients in treatment
both groups were assessed before and after treatment (i.e., after
14 days). To evaluate the efficacy of pain management, the Before treatment, there was no statistically significant
reduction rate (RR) of the treatment was calculated as follows [15]: difference observed in the VAS scores between the two groups
RR = (Pre-treatment score – post-treatment score)/Pre- (0.1076 ± 0.1070; 95% confidence interval [CI]: (−0.1068, 0.3220);
P > 0.05). After 14 days of treatment, a significant discrepancy in
treatment score × 100% (I) VAS scores was observed in both groups in comparison to the
The criteria for evaluating the efficacy of pain management pre-treatment status (0.6841 ± 0.2175; 95% CI: (0.2485, 1.1198);
were as follows: (i) Cured: symptoms disappeared or substantially P < 0.05). Moreover, the VAS scores of the experimental group
disappeared, with RR exceeding 75%; (ii) significant effect: were significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05)
noticeable improvement in symptoms, with RR ranging from 50% (Table 1).
to 75%; (iii) effective: symptoms improved, with RR between
25% and 50%; (iv) ineffective: no significant improvement in 3.3. Comparison of the efficacy of pain management between the
symptoms, with RR equal to or less than 25%. The total effective control and experimental groups
rate was calculated using the formula: Statistical analysis of the efficacy of pain management
Total effective rate = (Number of cured cases + number of revealed that the experimental group exhibited a significantly
significant effect cases + number of effective cases)/total number higher efficacy rate (96.55%) in comparison to the control group
of cases × 100% (II) (86.21%) (P < 0.05) (Table 2).
In both patient groups, the severity of depression and anxiety 3.4. Comparison of psychological states of both groups before
was evaluated using PHQ-9 and GAD-7, respectively, before and and after treatment
after treatment. Higher scores on both scales corresponded to a
greater degree of depression and anxiety, respectively. After treatment, the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores of both groups
were lower than their respective pre-treatment scores. Furthermore,
2.5. Statistical analysis the PHQ-9 scores of the experimental group were significantly
Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 22.0 (IBM,
USA). Descriptive statistics for the measurement data are Table 1. Comparison of VAS scores of both groups before and after
presented as mean ± standard deviation. The comparison between treatment
groups was performed using the independent samples t-test. Condition VAS scores t P 95% CI
Within-group comparisons were assessed using either the rank- Before treatment (n=29) 0.1076±0.1070 1.005 0.319 (−0.1068, 0.3220)
sum test or paired samples t-test. The Chi-squared (χ ) test was After treatment (n=29) 0.6841±0.2175 3.146 <0.01 (0.2485, 1.1198)
2
employed for the analysis of count data. Statistical significance Abbreviation: CI: Confidence interval; n: Number of patients; P: P-value; t: t-value;
was determined at a significance level of P < 0.05. VAS: Visual analog scale.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36922/jctr.23.00121