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Background: ChatGPT is a large language model designed to generate responses based on a contextual understanding of user queries and requests. This study utilised the entrance examination for the Master of Clinical Medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine to assesses the reliability and practicality of ChatGPT within the domain of medical education. Methods: We selected 330 single and multiple-choice questions from the 2021 and 2022 Chinese Master of Clinical Medicine comprehensive examinations, which did not include any images or tables. To ensure the test's accuracy and authenticity, we preserved the original format of the query and alternative test texts, without any modifications or explanations. Results: Both ChatGPT3.5 and GPT-4 attained average scores surpassing the admission threshold. Noteworthy is that ChatGPT achieved the highest score in the Medical Humanities section, boasting a correct rate of 93.75%. However, it is worth noting that ChatGPT3.5 exhibited the lowest accuracy percentage of 37.5% in the Pathology division, while GPT-4 also displayed a relatively lower correctness percentage of 60.23% in the Biochemistry section. An analysis of sub-questions revealed that ChatGPT demonstrates superior performance in handling single-choice questions but performs poorly in multiple-choice questions. Conclusion: ChatGPT exhibits a degree of medical knowledge and the capacity to aid in diagnosing and treating diseases. Nevertheless, enhancements are warranted to address its accuracy and reliability limitations. Imperatively, rigorous evaluation and oversight must accompany its utilization, accompanied by proactive measures to surmount prevailing constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective and safe treatment for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is lacking. This randomized controlled trial, which was conducted at 13 tertiary hospitals in China during 2020 to 2022, sought to assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture, doxylamine–pyridoxine, and their combination in women with moderate to severe NVP. Visual Abstract. Acupuncture and Doxylamine–Pyridoxine for Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy: An effective and safe treatment for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is lacking. This randomized controlled trial, which was conducted at 13 tertiary hospitals in China during 2020 to 2022, sought to assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture, doxylamine–pyridoxine, and their combination in women with moderate to severe NVP. Background: An effective and safe treatment for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is lacking. Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture, doxylamine–pyridoxine, and a combination of both in women with moderate to severe NVP. Design: Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2 × 2 factorial trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04401384) Setting: 13 tertiary hospitals in mainland China from 21 June 2020 to 2 February 2022. Participants: 352 women in early pregnancy with moderate to severe NVP. Intervention: Participants received daily active or sham acupuncture for 30 minutes and doxylamine–pyridoxine or placebo for 14 days. Measurements: The primary outcome was the reduction in Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis (PUQE) score at the end of the intervention at day 15 relative to baseline. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, adverse events, and maternal and perinatal complications. Results: No significant interaction was detected between the interventions (P = 0.69). Participants receiving acupuncture (mean difference [MD], −0.7 [95% CI, −1.3 to −0.1]), doxylamine–pyridoxine (MD, −1.0 [CI, −1.6 to −0.4]), and the combination of both (MD, −1.6 [CI, −2.2 to −0.9]) had a larger reduction in PUQE score over the treatment course than their respective control groups (sham acupuncture, placebo, and sham acupuncture plus placebo). Compared with placebo, a higher risk for births with children who were small for gestational age was observed with doxylamine–pyridoxine (odds ratio, 3.8 [CI, 1.0 to 14.1]). Limitation: The placebo effects of the interventions and natural regression of the disease were not evaluated. Conclusion: Both acupuncture and doxylamine–pyridoxine alone are efficacious for moderate and severe NVP. However, the clinical importance of this effect is uncertain because of its modest magnitude. The combination of acupuncture and doxylamine–pyridoxine may yield a potentially larger benefit than each treatment alone. Primary Funding Source: The National Key R&D Program of China and the Project of Heilongjiang Province "TouYan" Innovation Team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of health education based on integrative therapy of Chinese and Western medicine for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from the aspects of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP), health-related quality of life (HRQoL), body mass index (BMI) and glucose control. Methods: Patients were individually randomized into intervention group (receiving integrative education, n=120) and control group (receiving usual education, n=120). The primary outcome was the changes in glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months from baseline. Hierarchical linear models (HLMs) were used to assess within-group changes in outcomes over time and between-group differences in patterns of change. Secondary outcomes were KAP scores, HRQoL scores and BMI after 6 and 12 months, paired-sample t test was used to assess within-group changes in outcomes in 6 and 12 months, independent-sample t test was used to assess between-group differences in patterns of change. Results: HbA1c decreased statistically from baseline to 3 months, from 3 to 6 months, from 6 to 9 months and from 9 to 12 months in the intervention group (all P<0.01); and decreased significantly from baseline to 3 months, and from 3 to 6 months in the control group P<0.01). There was a significant between-group difference from baseline to 3 months ( P=0.044), from 6 to 9 months ( P<0.01) and from 9 to 12 months ( P<0.01). Significant improvements in the intervention group along with significant between-group differences were found in KAP and HRQoL scores respectively (all P<0.05). The number in the intervention group of normal weight increased from 56 at baseline to 81 (6 months), 94 (12 months), the number in the control group were 63 (baseline), 69 (6 months), 70 (12 months), the χ of hierarchical analysis of BMI were 6.93 ( P=0.075), 10.31 ( P=0.016), 15.53 ( P<0.01), respectively. Conclusion: Health education based on integrative therapy of Chinese and Western medicine is beneficial to the control of T2DM and should be recommended for T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of family-involvement on health education for T2DM from the aspects of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP), health-related quality of life (HRQoL), body mass index (BMI) and glucose control.Methods: A follow-up study was performed and patients with newly diagnosed T2DM were divided into family-involved group (FIG, n=60) and single-involved group (SIG, n=60). Hierarchical linear models were used to assess within-group changes and between-group differences in the glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), KAP, SF-36 and BMI.Results: Significant improvements in FIG along with significant differences between-group were seen for HbA1c levels (9.73, 8.92, 5.55, 5.79, 5.30 vs. 10.05, 9.53, 6.36, 8.41, 6.58) in baseline, M3, M6, M12, M24 compared with SIG, respectively (all P≤0.001). Significant improvements in FIG along with significant differences between-group were seen for KAP (16.23, 46.98, 48.93 vs. 16.65, 29.07, 37.62), SF-36 (78.04, 92.68, 92.34 vs. 74.96, 77.03, 78.25), and BMI (24.74, 23.46, 22.96 vs. 24.00, 23.45, 23.50) in baseline, M12 and M24, respectively (all P≤0.05).Conclusion: Family involvement is beneficial to the control of T2DM and should be suggested for T2DM newly diagnosed.Practice Implications: Health education should encourage the family to participate in the whole process to improve the efficacy of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, is characterized by abdominal pain, diarrhea, and mucopurulent bloody stool. In recent years, the incidence and prevalence of UC have been increasing consistently. Five-flavor Sophora falvescens enteric-coated capsule (FSEC), a licensed Chinese patent medicine, was specifically used to treat UC. This review was aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of FSEC for the treatment of UC. Methods. Six electronic databases were searched from inception to March 2021. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing FSEC or FSEC plus conventional Western medicine with conventional Western medicine in participants with UC were included. Two authors screened all references, assessed the risk of bias, and extracted data independently. Binary data were presented as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and metric data as mean difference (MD) with 95% CI. The overall certainty of the evidence was assessed by GRADE. Results. We included 15 RCTs (1194 participants, 763 in the FSEC group and 431 in the control group). The treatment duration ranged from 42 to 64 days. Twelve trials compared FSEC with conventional Western medicine, and two trials compared FSEC plus conventional medicine with conventional medicine. Another trial compared FSEC plus mesalazine with compound glutamine enteric capsules plus mesalazine. FSEC showed a higher clinical effective rate (improved clinical symptoms, colonoscopy results, and stools) (RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.20; 729 participants; 8 trials; low-quality evidence) as well as the effective rate of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes (RR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.20; 452 participants; 5 trials; low-quality evidence) compared to mesalazine. There was no significant difference in the adverse events between FSEC and control groups. Conclusions. FSEC may show effectiveness in UC treatment compared to conventional medicine, and the use of FSEC may not increase the risk of adverse events. Due to the limited number of clinical trials and low methodological quality of the included trials, our findings must be interpreted with discretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Chinese patent medicine for mild-to-moderate active ulcerative colitis (UC) using network meta-analysis (NMA). Methods. We systematically searched PubMed, Cochrane library, Embase, Sino-Med, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP) databases to October, 2020. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on Chinese patent medicine for mild-to-moderate active UC. The main analysis was complemented by network subanalyses and standard pairwise comparisons. Statistical heterogeneity, inconsistencies, and ranking probability were also evaluated. Results. The databases search identified 3222 citations, of which 33 RCTs involving 2971 patients met the inclusion criteria. A total of 15 Chinese patent medicines were analyzed. The overall quality of the included studies was low. Pairwise meta-analysis showed that Chinese patent medicine was superior to Mesalazine in improving disappearances of clinical symptoms, recurrence rate, and Mayo score. Based on decreases in adverse events, results from NMA showed that Xilei powder plus Mesalazine was more effective than other drugs. Other NMA results indicated that Danshen freeze-dried powder plus Mesalazine (RR: 0.13; 95% CI, 0.02–0.78) and Kangfuxin lotion plus Mesalazine (RR: 0.24; 95% CI, 0.07–0.57) were superior to Mesalazine in decreasing recurrence rate. Another NMA result indicated that Kangfuxin lotion plus Mesalazine (RR: 0.00; 95% CI, 0.00–0.02) and Zhi Kang capsule plus Mesalazine (RR: 0.00; 95% CI, 0.00–0.02) were superior to Mesalazine in increasing the disappearance of tenesmus. Conclusion. In the probability sorting, Xilei powder combined with Mesalazine ranked first for having the fewest adverse events, Maintaining Intestines Antidiarrheal Pills combined with Mesalazine ranked first for having the lowest recurrence rate, Xilei powder combined with Mesalazine ranked first for improving disappearance rate of mucopurulent bloody stool/abdominal pain, and Kangfuxin lotion combined with Mesalazine ranked first for improving the disappearance rate of diarrhea/tenesmus. However, there is a lack of direct comparisons among Chinese patent medicines for UC. More multiarm RCTs are needed in the future to provide direct comparative evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]