Acupuncture for chronic pain

Abstract

Clinical question: Is acupuncture associated with reduced pain outcomes for patients with chronic pain compared with sham-acupuncture (placebo) or no-acupuncture control?

Bottom line: Acupuncture is associated with improved pain outcomes compared with sham-acupuncture and no-acupuncture control, with response rates of approximately 30% for no acupuncture, 42.5% for sham acupuncture, and 50% for acupuncture.

Figures

Fig 1

Results of the individual patient data meta-analysis of acupuncture versus sham and versus no acupuncture, as standardized mean difference. A standardized mean difference of 0.42, for instance, means that pain scores were 0.42 standard deviations lower in patients undergoing acupuncture compared to controls. These differences are converted to clinically meaningful statistics in the text.

Fig 2