Clinical Observation on Auricular Acupoint Combined with Constitution-Differentiated Dietary Therapy for Intervening Tobacco Dependence and Withdrawal Reactions

Abstract

This study aims to explore the clinical efficacy and constitution-differentiated characteristics of a three-dimensional integrated Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) protocol consisting of auricular point pressing and bean-embedding plus constitution-differentiated dietary therapy in patients with tobacco dependence. A prospective single-center randomized controlled trial was conducted. A total of 420 patients with mild-to-moderate tobacco dependence were enrolled and assigned to two groups at a 1:1 ratio (210 cases per group). The control group received routine smoking-cessation health education. On this basis, the observation group received comprehensive interventions, including auricular point pressing with beans, three-type constitution-differentiated dietary therapy, and individualized emotional regulation care. The intervention lasted for 4 weeks with a 12-week follow-up. Finally, 402 valid cases were obtained with a dropout rate of 4.29 %. After intervention, the 4-week smoking-cessation success rate and 12-week continuous abstinence rate in the observation group were 78.57 % and 65.24 %, which were significantly higher than 42.38 % and 28.57 % in the control group; the 12-week relapse rate of 21.43 % was markedly lower than 57.62 % in the control group (all P < 0.001). The total MNWS score in the observation group decreased by 12.36 ± 3.12 points, with more prominent improvements in FTND and SAS scores (P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that anxiety was most significantly improved in the liver-stagnation subtype, body-weight control achieved better outcomes in the phlegm-dampness subtype, and the highest compliance was observed in the qi-deficiency subtype. The incidence of mild adverse reactions in the observation group was 3.80 % (Liu Y, Zhang L & Wang H., 2024), indicating favorable safety. This comprehensive TCM intervention can remarkably relieve withdrawal symptoms and reduce relapse risk with obvious constitution-differentiated advantages, which is worthy of clinical promotion.