The effectiveness of moxibustion for the treatment of functional constipation: a randomized, sham-controlled, patient blinded, pilot clinical trial

Table 2 Effects of treatment between moxibustion and sham groups

	Pre- and post-treatment
	Baseline			Week 2			Week 4			Week 6
	Moxibustion (n = 12)	Sham (n = 13)	p	Moxibustion (n = 12)	Sham (n = 13)	p	Moxibustion (n = 12)	Sham (n = 13)	p	Moxibustion (n = 12)	Sham (n = 13)	p
Defecation Frequency (times/week)	3.33 ± 1.61	2.69 ± 1.38	^†0.39	3.67 ± 2.10	3.85 ± 1.68	0.38	4.58 ± 2.39	3.69 ± 1.93	0.78	4.08 ± 1.56	3.15 ± 1.34	^†0.62
BSS	3.07 ± 1.13	3.97 ± 1.08	0.05	3.37 ± 1.19	4.36 ± 1.57	0.87	3.69 ± 1.29	3.36 ± 1.70	0.10	3.53 ± 1.25	3.86 ± 1.35	0.34
CAS	7.25 ± 3.55	8.08 ± 2.36	0.50	4.67 ± 3.20	3.85 ± 1.46	0.09	3.42 ± 2.15	5.15 ± 3.87	0.44	3.50 ± 3.90	4.85 ± 3.46	0.68

Values are mean ± standard deviation. BSS: Bristol stool form scale; CAS: constipation assessment scale.
p-value, by independent t-test.
^† analyzed by Wilcoxon rank-sum test

ISSN: 2662-7671