Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT05635669

Optimized Acupuncture Treatment for Female Stress Urinary Incontinence

This multicenter randomized controlled trial is designed to explore a relatively suitable application of acupoint combinations and to provide certain clinical evidence for the optimization of acupuncture treatment of female SUI.

Recruiting

Interested in participating?

Request Info

Key information

Conditions

Stress Urinary Incontinence Female Urogenital Diseases Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Male Urogenital Diseases Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms Urinary Incontinence Urinary Incontinence, Stress Urination Disorders Urogenital Diseases Urologic Diseases Urological Manifestations

Age range

40 year–75 year

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Longhua Hospital Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Shanghai, China

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Yuelai Chen

CONTACT

About this study

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) mainly refers to the involuntary leakage of urine when abdominal pressure increases, such as sneezing, coughing, laughing or exercise. According to epidemiological studies, the global median prevalence of female urinary incontinence is 27.6% (4.8%-58.4%), of which SUI accounts for more than 50%. Previous study have demonstrated that acupuncture intervention can reduce the urine leakage in pad test, decrease the ICIQ-SF score, so as to help the patients alleviate the symptoms and improve their quality of life. This multicenter randomized controlled trial set 3 groups. Patients will receive 3 different applications of acupoint combinations so that the optimization of acupuncture treatment of female SUI will be find.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients with mild to moderate SUI mentioned in the diagnostic criteria above;
  • Aged 40～75 years;
  • Sign the informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

  • Other types of urinary incontinence (urgent, overflow or mixed).
  • History of urinary incontinence surgery or pelvic floor surgery;
  • Pelvic organ prolapse ≥ stage II;
  • Symptomatic urinary tract infection;
  • Residual urine volume > 30 mL;
  • Maximum urinary flow rate < 20ml/s.
  • Limitation of movement (walk and/or run and/or climb stairs);
  • Patients who have been using drugs that may affect bladder function or receiving SUI specialized treatment;
  • Severe cardiovascular, cerebral, liver, kidney and hematopoietic system disease, mental disorders, diabetes, multiple system atrophy, cauda equina neuropathy and spinal cord disease;
  • Pregnancy or lactation period.
  • With cardiac pacemaker, acupuncture phobia or metal allergies;

Treatment and study plan

Sacral acupoints acupuncture

Device

Before treatment, the participants will be asked to go to the toilet. All treatments will be performed after skin disinfection. As acupuncture needles are inserted, all points will be lifted, twisted, and stabbed to activate the sensation of de qi. The electroacupuncture stimulation lasted for 30 minutes with a continuous wave of 50 Hz and a current intensity of 1 to 5 mA (preferably with the skin around the acupoints shivering mildly without pain). Participants will receive three treatments per week (every other day), each lasting 30 minutes, for a total of 18 sessions over the course of 6 weeks. The follow-up sessions are on week 18, 30, 42 and 54. In this group, paired electrodes from the electroacupuncture apparatus were attached transversely to the needle handles at bilateral Huiyang(BL35) and Zhongliao(BL33) .

Abdominal acupoints acupuncture

Device

Before treatment, the participants will be asked to go to the toilet. All treatments will be performed after skin disinfection. As acupuncture needles are inserted, all points will be lifted, twisted, and stabbed to activate the sensation of de qi. The electroacupuncture stimulation lasted for 30 minutes with a continuous wave of 50 Hz and a current intensity of 1 to 5 mA (preferably with the skin around the acupoints shivering mildly without pain). Participants will receive three treatments per week (every other day), each lasting 30 minutes, for a total of 18 sessions over the course of 6 weeks. The follow-up sessions are on week 18, 30, 42 and 54. In this group, paired electrodes from the electroacupuncture apparatus were attached to the needle handles respectively at Zhongji(RN3) and one side of Dahe(KI12), as well as Guanyuan(RN4) and another side of Dahe(KI12).

Alternating acupoints acupuncture

Device

Before treatment, the participants will be asked to go to the toilet. All treatments will be performed after skin disinfection. As acupuncture needles are inserted, all points will be lifted, twisted, and stabbed to activate the sensation of de qi. The electroacupuncture stimulation lasted for 30 minutes with a continuous wave of 50 Hz and a current intensity of 1 to 5 mA (preferably with the skin around the acupoints shivering mildly without pain). Participants will receive three treatments per week (every other day), each lasting 30 minutes, for a total of 18 sessions over the course of 6 weeks. The follow-up sessions are on week 18, 30, 42 and 54. The application of electroacupuncture is the same as Sacral group and Abdominal group.

Primary outcomes

  1. The change of urine leakage measured by the 1-hour pad test

    Time frame: Week 6

    Quantity of fluid loss will be measured by 1-hour pad test, compared with the baseline (week 0).

Secondary outcomes

  1. The change of mean episodes of urinary incontinence in 72 hours

    Time frame: Week 4, 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54

    The mean episodes of urinary incontinence in 72 hours based on '72 hours bladder diary', comparing the value at week 4, 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54 with the baseline(week 0).

  2. The change of International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF)

    Time frame: Week 4, 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54

    ICIQ-SF is a brief instrument used to assess the frequency of incontinence, the volume of incontinence, as well as the impact of life quality). The value will be recorded at week 4, 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54, compared to that at baseline(week 0).

  3. Severity of SUI according to '72 hours bladder diary'

    Time frame: Week 4, 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54

    The severity of SUI will be rated according to the amount of UI in usual conditions without extreme activities like severe cough, strenuous exercise or carrying heavy loads in the past 72 hours. Definition: mild(several drops of leakage);moderate(leak that soaked through underwear); severe(leak that soaked through outerwear). In case that participants worn urinal pads, the severity of SUI will be graded as follows. Mild(several drops of leakage); moderate(soaked urine pads in patches by several leakages); severe(soaked urine pads in patches by one leakage). The most severe degree of urine leakage in patient's 72 hours bladder diaries over the assessment period will be selected as the severity of SUI for analyses.

  4. Participant Self-evaluation of Therapeutic Effects

    Time frame: Week 4, 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54

    No help=0; Small help=1; Medium help=2; Great help=3

  5. The number of patients who used other treatment for SUI

    Time frame: Week 18, 30, 42 and 54

    Compare the number of patients who used other specialty therapy for SUI during the study between 3 groups.

  6. Bladder neck mobility by pelvic floor ultrasonography

    Time frame: Week 6

    Bladder neck mobility will be observed both at rest and during a Valsalva maneuver by pelvic floor ultrasonography. The result can be measured from the ultrasonic image.

  7. Urethral rotation angle by pelvic floor ultrasonography

    Time frame: Week 6

    Urethral rotation angle will be observed both at rest and during a Valsalva maneuver by pelvic floor ultrasonography. The result can be measured from the ultrasonic image.

  8. Retrovesical angle by pelvic floor ultrasonography

    Time frame: Week 6

    Retrovesical angle will be observed both at rest and during a Valsalva maneuver by pelvic floor ultrasonography. The result can be measured from the ultrasonic image.

  9. Lowest point of bladder by pelvic floor ultrasonography

    Time frame: Week 6

    Lowest point of bladder at rest and during a Valsalva maneuver by pelvic floor ultrasonography. The result can be observed from the ultrasonic image.

  10. Urethral funnel formation by pelvic floor ultrasonography

    Time frame: Week 6

    Urethral funnel formation at rest and during a Valsalva maneuver by pelvic floor ultrasonography. The result can be observed from the ultrasonic image.

  11. The type of bladder bulging by pelvic floor ultrasonography

    Time frame: Week 6

    The type of bladder bulging at rest and during a Valsalva maneuver by pelvic floor ultrasonography. The result can be observed from the ultrasonic image.

  12. Subgroup analysis: correlation between 1-hour pad test and severity of SUI

    Time frame: Week 6

    Analyze the correlation between 1-hour pad test and severity of SUI.

  13. Subgroup analysis: correlation between episodes of urinary incontinence in 72 hours and severity of SUI

    Time frame: Week18, 30, 42 and 54

    Analyze the correlation between episodes of urinary incontinence in 72 hours and severity of SUI.

  14. Number of urine pads used weekly

    Time frame: Week 4, 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54

    The weekly consumption of urine pads was assessed in participants.

  15. Incidence of adverse events

    Time frame: Week 1-6

    Observe the incidence of adverse events during the treatment.

  16. Evaluation of discomfort during treatment

    Time frame: Within 5 minutes after the first and ninth acupuncture treatment

    Visual analog scale (VAS) will be used to evaluate the degree of discomfort during treatment. The scale ranging from 0 to 10cm, with 0cm indicating no discomfort and 10cm indicating severe discomfort. Evaluation time: The average value of the first and ninth acupuncture treatments was taken within 5 minutes after the end of the two treatments. If the VAS value is missing in one of the cases, another is taken as the result.

  17. Patient acceptability evaluation

    Time frame: Within 5 minutes after the first and ninth acupuncture treatment

    0=very difficult to accept, 1=slightly difficult to accept, 2=acceptable, 3=easy to accept, 4=very easy to accept. Evaluation time: The average value of the first and ninth acupuncture treatments was taken within 5 minutes after the end of the two treatments. If the VAS value is missing in one of the cases, another is taken as the result.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

PING YIN

CONTACT

[email protected]

086-18917561621

YUELAI CHEN

CONTACT

[email protected]

0086-13020193726

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Yin Ping

Other

Collaborators

  • Longhua Hospital

Registry information

Official study title

Optimized Acupuncture Treatment for Female Stress Urinary Incontinence: a Study Protocol for a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Dec 2, 2022
Registry last updated
May 22, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.