Objective To observe the clinical effects of Shugan Tiaochong Decoction combined with psychological intervention in the treatment of female delayed acne vulgaris(FDAV) of liver depression fire type.

Methods A total of 80 FDAV patients from dermatology outpatient department were selected, and divided into the TCM group(treated with Shugan Tiaochong Decoction) and combined group(treated with psychotherapy on the basis of Chinese medicine group) according to random number table method (40 cases in each group).The course of treatment was 2 months.The efficacy, TCM syndrome score, skin lesion score, quality of life, adverse reactions and recurrence were compared between two groups.

Results The total effective rate of the combined group was 97.50%, which was higher than that of the TCM group(82.50%) (χ²=5.00, P < 0.05).After treatment, the TCM syndrome score, total skin lesion score and dermatological life quality index score in two groups were lower than those at the time of enrollment (P < 0.05), and those in the combined group were lower than that in TCM group (P < 0.01).The recurrence rate of the combined group was 5.13%, which was lower than that of TCM group (24.24%) (χ²=5.46, P < 0.05).

Conclusions The effects of Shugan Tiaochong Decoction combined with psychological intervention in the treatment of FDAV of liver depression fire type are better, which can significantly improve the symptoms, skin lesions and quality of life of patients, and effectively reduce the recurrence rate.