Acupuncture: Clinically meaningful and cost-effective?
Researchers from the University of York, in the UK say it’s time to move on from asking if acupuncture is more effective than placebo.
First, the details.
- They reviewed the evidence supporting acupuncture for the most commonly occurring forms of chronic pain (back, knee, and head).
- 8 systematic reviews with meta-analyses of pooled data were included.
And, the results.
- Short-term outcomes
- Acupuncture was significantly better than sham for back pain, knee pain, and headache.
- Longer-term outcomes (6 to12 months)
- Acupuncture was significantly more effective for knee pain and tension-type headache but inconsistent for back pain (one positive and one inconclusive study).
- In general, the differences between treatments were relatively small.
The bottom line?
The authors concluded, “The accumulating evidence from recent reviews suggests that acupuncture is more than a placebo for commonly occurring chronic pain conditions.”
They continue, “If this conclusion is correct, then we ask the question: is it now time to shift research priorities away from asking placebo-related questions and shift toward asking more practical questions about whether the overall benefit is clinically meaningful and cost-effective?”
At least 2 other studies from the same university suggest, “For persistent non-specific low back pain, acupuncture appears to provide a modest benefit to health, at a relatively minor extra cost to the UK healthcare system.”
1/15/10 21:32 JR
