E Ernst1, A R White. 1. Department of Complementary Medicine, Postgraduate Medical School, University of Exeter, England. E.Ernst@ex.ac.uk
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Acupuncture is commonly used to treat back pain, but there is no published meta-analysis of trials of its effectiveness for this condition. OBJECTIVE: To perform a meta-analysis of trials of acupuncture for the treatment of back pain. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted to retrieve all randomized controlled trials of any form of acupuncture for any type of back pain in humans. The adequacy of the acupuncture treatment was assessed by consulting 6 experienced acupuncturists. The main outcome measure for the meta-analysis was numbers of patients whose symptoms were improved at the end of treatment. RESULTS: Twelve studies were included, of which 9 presented data suitable for meta-analysis. The odds ratio of improvement with acupuncture compared with control intervention was 2.30 (95% confidence interval, 1.28-4.13). For sham-controlled, evaluator-blinded studies, the odds ratio was 1.37 (95% confidence interval, 0.84-2.25). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture was shown to be superior to various control interventions, although there is insufficient evidence to state whether it is superior to placebo.
BACKGROUND: Acupuncture is commonly used to treat back pain, but there is no published meta-analysis of trials of its effectiveness for this condition. OBJECTIVE: To perform a meta-analysis of trials of acupuncture for the treatment of back pain. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted to retrieve all randomized controlled trials of any form of acupuncture for any type of back pain in humans. The adequacy of the acupuncture treatment was assessed by consulting 6 experienced acupuncturists. The main outcome measure for the meta-analysis was numbers of patients whose symptoms were improved at the end of treatment. RESULTS: Twelve studies were included, of which 9 presented data suitable for meta-analysis. The odds ratio of improvement with acupuncture compared with control intervention was 2.30 (95% confidence interval, 1.28-4.13). For sham-controlled, evaluator-blinded studies, the odds ratio was 1.37 (95% confidence interval, 0.84-2.25). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture was shown to be superior to various control interventions, although there is insufficient evidence to state whether it is superior to placebo.
Authors: Klaus Linde; Gianni Allais; Benno Brinkhaus; Yutong Fei; Michael Mehring; Emily A Vertosick; Andrew Vickers; Adrian R White Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2016-06-28
Authors: Richard Hammerschlag; Ryan Milley; Agatha Colbert; Jeffrey Weih; Beth Yohalem-Ilsley; Scott Mist; Mikel Aickin Journal: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Date: 2010-10-03 Impact factor: 2.629