Factorial study of moxibustion in treatment of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Table 3 Comparisons of the degrees of improvement in symptoms and relevant scales for patients in each group at different stages of treatment

				Frequency		P value
	Scale	n	Cone	Three treatments/wk	Six treatments/wk	Cone	Frequency	Conefrequency
	Birmingham	40	1	42.24 ± 36.12	35.20 ± 23.84	0.643	0.845	0.254
		40	2	30.30 ± 77.95	40.25 ± 29.15
	IBS-QOL	40	1	17.40 ± 19.04	20.25 ± 14.37	0.255	0.847	0.348
		40	2	22.63 ± 15.67	20.76 ± 13.83
	SDS	40	1	17.99 ± 17.02	10.49 ± 9.66	0.734	0.133	0.140
1st course		40	2	15.13 ± 19.32	15.06 ± 15.81
	SAS	40	1	13.72 ± 13.53	11.96 ± 9.97	0.279	0.535	0.849
		40	2	15.65 ± 13.50	14.72 ± 16.67
	HAMD	40	1	27.69 ± 48.61	39.54 ± 32.69	0.347	0.071	0.987
		40	2	33.78 ± 40.44	45.84 ± 42.93
	HAMA	40	1	12.04 ± 65.36	46.90 ± 28.61	0.458	0.011	0.028
		40	2	33.62 ± 44.65	36.19 ± 37.95
	Birmingham	40	1	73.74 ± 19.43	56.19 ± 21.62	0.393	0.002	0.078
		40	2	70.46 ± 27.24	65.56 ± 20.91
	IBS-QOL	40	1	29.98 ± 16.59	34.26 ± 13.63	0.247	0.208	0.562
		40	2	34.02 ± 15.29	35.60 ± 12.88
	SDS	40	1	26.12 ± 16.15	21.65 ± 14.35	0.149	0.373	0.373
2nd course		40	2	27.51 ± 17.52	27.51 ± 15.12
	SAS	40	1	23.68 ± 12.83	22.54 ± 12.14	0.871	0.604	0.996
		40	2	24.02 ± 15.77	22.90 ± 13.81
	HAMD	40	1	63.06 ± 36.74	68.88 ± 32.05	0.139	0.182	0.845
		40	2	69.63 ± 30.35	77.45 ± 29.05
	HAMA	40	1	49.62 ± 46.44	62.61 ± 38.66	0.502	0.238	0.450
		40	2	59.19 ± 49.29	62.04 ± 32.62

1^st course: After the first course of treatment; 2^nd course: After the second course of treatment; Birmingham: Birmingham irritable bowel syndrome symptom questionnaire; IBS-QOL: Irritable bowel syndrome Quality of Life Scale; SDS: Self-Rating Depression Scale; SAS: Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; HAMD: Hamilton Depression Scale; HAMA: Hamilton Anxiety Scale.