Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation (TEAS) for Chronic Constipation

Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) is an emerging technology for non-invasive neuromodulation that has broad potential implications and warrants further study. The investigators' clinical experience from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for East-West Medicine (CEWM) has also demonstrated that TEAS can be used as an effective self-care tool for patients with chronic illness who do not have the time or resources for frequent acupuncture treatments. Chronic constipation is the chosen area of study because of the large population with a substantial impairment in health-related quality of life and work productivity. The investigators have recently completed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) demonstrating the benefit of perineal self-acupressure on quality of life measurements in this population, which supports investigation into other acupuncture-based self-care interventions. Given these findings, the investigators hypothesize that home patient-administered TEAS can provide measurable improvements in both symptom severity and health related quality of life.

This study will be a double blinded randomized controlled trial. Respondents will be screened by phone and qualified subjects will be sent home for 2 weeks to complete a bowel movement logbook, then return into the CEWM office where they will submit validated surveys (specifically, the PAC-SYM and PAC-QOL) and have a photo taken of their tongue. A baseline non-invasive heart rate variability (HRV) measurement will be taken at this time as well. Study personnel will instruct each subject on TEAS pad placement and how to use the device, but not tell the subjects where to place the pads. The subjects will been assigned to one of two experimental groups (verum and sham) based on a 1:1 random allocation, with the study personnel blinded to the allocation. Both groups will be given transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS) units with pre-set parameters and access to the adjustable amplitude dial for self-adjustment of amplitude, with the verum group given pre-printed information on proper application on true acupoints, and sham group will be given information on non-acupuncture points. The subjects will be instructed on daily use for 30 minutes per day for at least 5 days per week, and asked to track device use as well as bowel movement frequency and quality using a logbook. They will also submit to an online survey every week during the 4-week trial period. At the conclusion of the study, they will return the units and repeat the survey and HRV measurements.