The Efficacy of a Persian Medicine-Based Dietary Protocol on Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Masoud  Moslemifard Khaledi; Hamed  Mehdinezhad Gorji; Narjes Gorji; Reza Ghadimi; Seyyed Ali Mozaffarpur; Hoda Shirafkan

doi:10.18502/tim.v8i1.12397

Masoud Moslemifard Khaledi Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Hamed Mehdinezhad Gorji Clinical Research Development Unit of Rouhani Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Narjes Gorji Department of History of Medical Sciences, School of Persian Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Reza Ghadimi Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Seyyed Ali Mozaffarpur Traditional Medicine and History of Medical Sciences Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Hoda Shirafkan Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tim.v8i1.12397

Keywords: COVID-19; Diet; Persian medicine; Nutrition; Complementary therapies

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a Persian Medicine-based dietary protocol (PM diet) in patients infected with COVID-19. A randomized clinical trial was performed from July 2020 to January 2021 in Tehran, Iran. Eighty patients admitted due to pulmonary dysfunction caused by COVID-19 were randomly allocated into two groups: the PM diet or the common hospital (CH) diet. Eight beds in 2 rooms were considered for each group. Patients were randomly hospitalized in these rooms and received these diets up to discharge or death.. Oxygen saturation level and duration of hospitalization, the rate of mortality, duration of fever, and duration of cough were considered as the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. Oxygen saturation and fever duration were not different between groups (P value= 0.08, 0.312, respectively). But the duration of hospitalization and the duration of cough in the PM diet group were significantly shorter than in the CH diet (P value= 0.002, 0.009, and HR=2.02, 1.86 respectively). The mortality rate was significantly lower in the PM diet group than in the CH diet group (Odds ratio: 0.12, P value=0.026). PM diet caused a lower mortality rate, shorter hospital stay, and better improvement in cough, but did not have a significant effect on O₂ saturation and fever.