A Survey of the Practice and Perspectives of Chinese Acupuncturists onDeqi

Abstract

Deqirefers to the special sensation and reaction sensed mainly by both acupuncturist and patient when a needle was inserted into the acupoints and is considered to be vital to achieve acupuncture effect. For acupuncturist, it is important to judge and controlDeqiin clinical practice. However, enough attention is paid to patients’ feelings rather than acupuncturists’ nowadays. We thus conducted this survey to determine acupuncturists’ perspectives aboutDeqiand to further find the proper way to induceDeqi. A total of 250 questionnaires were sent out to acupuncturists and 202 (80.8%) were returned. According to the results, most acupuncturists believe thatDeqiis vital to obtain preferable clinical effects. The reliability of acupuncturists’Deqisensation ranks as sinking> tightening> astringent. The reliability of patients’Deqisensations ranks as sourness> numbness> distention> heaviness> pain. The reliability of influential factors ranks as manipulation> specificity of acupoint> TCM constitution> disease status> patient’s psychological condition> acupuncturists’ psychological guidance> clinical environment. This study is believed to provide additional evidence to the qualitative and quantitative research ofDeqiin the future.