OBJECTIVE: Existing pharmacologic approaches for painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) are limited in efficacy and have side effects. We examined the feasibility, acceptability, and effects of group acupuncture for PDN. DESIGN AND SETTING: We randomized patients with PDN from a public safety net hospital to 1) usual care, 2) usual care plus 12 weeks of group acupuncture once weekly, or 3) usual care plus 12 weeks of group acupuncture twice weekly. METHODS: The primary outcome was change in weekly pain intensity (daily 0-10 numerical rating scale [NRS] averaged over seven days) from baseline to week 12. We also assessed health-related quality of life and related symptoms at baseline and weeks 6, 12, and 18. RESULTS: We enrolled 40 patients with PDN (baseline pain = 5.3). Among participants randomized to acupuncture, 92% attended at least one treatment (mean treatments = 10.1). We observed no significant differences between once- vs twice-weekly acupuncture and combined those groups for the main analyses. Compared with usual care, participants randomized to acupuncture experienced greater decreases in pain during the 12-week intervention period (between-group differences from baseline = -2.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -3.01 to -1.10), but benefits were not maintained after acupuncture ended (baseline to week 18 = -0.61, 95% CI = -1.46 to 0.24). Quality of life improved for acupuncture participants (baseline to week 12 difference = 11.79, 95% CI = 1.92 to 21.66), but group differences were not significant compared with usual care (25.58, 95% CI = -3.90 to 55.06). CONCLUSIONS:Group acupuncture is feasible and acceptable among linguistically and racially diverse safety net patients. Findings suggest clinically relevant reduction in pain from PDN and quality of life improvements associated with acupuncture, with no differences based on frequency.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: Existing pharmacologic approaches for painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) are limited in efficacy and have side effects. We examined the feasibility, acceptability, and effects of group acupuncture for PDN. DESIGN AND SETTING: We randomized patients with PDN from a public safety net hospital to 1) usual care, 2) usual care plus 12 weeks of group acupuncture once weekly, or 3) usual care plus 12 weeks of group acupuncture twice weekly. METHODS: The primary outcome was change in weekly pain intensity (daily 0-10 numerical rating scale [NRS] averaged over seven days) from baseline to week 12. We also assessed health-related quality of life and related symptoms at baseline and weeks 6, 12, and 18. RESULTS: We enrolled 40 patients with PDN (baseline pain = 5.3). Among participants randomized to acupuncture, 92% attended at least one treatment (mean treatments = 10.1). We observed no significant differences between once- vs twice-weekly acupuncture and combined those groups for the main analyses. Compared with usual care, participants randomized to acupuncture experienced greater decreases in pain during the 12-week intervention period (between-group differences from baseline = -2.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -3.01 to -1.10), but benefits were not maintained after acupuncture ended (baseline to week 18 = -0.61, 95% CI = -1.46 to 0.24). Quality of life improved for acupuncture participants (baseline to week 12 difference = 11.79, 95% CI = 1.92 to 21.66), but group differences were not significant compared with usual care (25.58, 95% CI = -3.90 to 55.06). CONCLUSIONS: Group acupuncture is feasible and acceptable among linguistically and racially diverse safety net patients. Findings suggest clinically relevant reduction in pain from PDN and quality of life improvements associated with acupuncture, with no differences based on frequency.
Authors: Julie M Waldfogel; Suzanne Amato Nesbit; Sydney M Dy; Ritu Sharma; Allen Zhang; Lisa M Wilson; Wendy L Bennett; Hsin-Chieh Yeh; Yohalakshmi Chelladurai; Dorianne Feldman; Karen A Robinson Journal: Neurology Date: 2017-03-24 Impact factor: 9.910
Authors: Margaret A Handley; Judy Quan; Maria T Chao; Neda Ratanawongsa; Urmimala Sarkar; Sophia Emmons-Bell; Dean Schillinger Journal: J Am Board Fam Med Date: 2017 Sep-Oct Impact factor: 2.657
Authors: Alka M Kanaya; Nancy Adler; Howard H Moffet; Jennifer Liu; Dean Schillinger; Alyce Adams; Ameena T Ahmed; Andrew J Karter Journal: Diabetes Care Date: 2011-02-24 Impact factor: 19.112
Authors: Hai Lun Jiang; Qiang Zhang; Yu Zheng Du; Xiang Gang Meng; Hai Peng Ban; Yang Tao Lu Journal: Medicine (Baltimore) Date: 2021-03-12 Impact factor: 1.817