Acupuncture
Research
|
| Paper
Title |
Acupuncture in patients with tension-type
headache: randomised controlled trial
|
| Author(s) |
Dieter
Melchart, Andrea Streng, Andrea Hoppe, Benno Brinkhaus, Claudia Witt,
Stefan Wagenpfeil, Volker Pfaffenrath, Michael Hammes, Josef Hummelsberger,
Dominik Irnich, Wolfgang Weidenhammer, , Stefan N Willich, Klaus Linde. |
| Journal
Reference |
BMJ 2005;331:376-382 |
| Background
and Objective |
To
investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture compared with
minimal acupuncture and with no acupuncture in patients with
tension-type headache. |
| Design,
Setting, and Patients |
A
three armed randomized controlled multicenter trial was completed across
28 outpatient centers in Germany on 270 patients (74% women, mean age 43
(SD 13) years) with episodic or chronic tension-type headache. |
| Interventions |
Acupuncture,
minimal acupuncture (superficial needling at non-acupuncture
points), or waiting list control. Acupuncture and minimal
acupuncture were administered by specialized physicians and
consisted of 12 sessions per patient over eight weeks. |
| Outcome
Measures |
Difference
in numbers of days with headache between the four weeks before randomization
and weeks 9-12 after randomization, as recorded by participants
in headache diaries. |
| Results |
The
number of days with headache decreased by 7.2 (SD 6.5) days in
the acupuncture group compared with 6.6 (SD 6.0) days in the
minimal acupuncture group and 1.5 (SD 3.7) days in the waiting
list group (difference: acupuncture v minimal acupuncture,
0.6 days, 95% confidence interval -1.5 to 2.6 days, P = 0.58;
acupuncture v waiting list, 5.7 days, 3.9 to 7.5 days, P
< 0.001). The proportion of responders (at least 50% reduction in
days with headache) was 46% in the acupuncture group, 35% in
the minimal acupuncture group, and 4% in the waiting list group. |
| Authors'
Conclusions |
The
acupuncture intervention investigated in this trial was more
effective than no treatment but not significantly more
effective than minimal acupuncture for the treatment of tension-type
headache. |
| Clinical
Significance |
Similar
to findings in other current acupuncture research, significant pain relief
was experienced by patients randomized to the acupuncture group as well as
the minimal (sham) acupuncture group. The specific protocols
associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine do not seem to be the most
important components of treatment with acupuncture for conditions of pain
including tension type headaches. The decrease in number of days
with headaches degree of pain, and degree of disability were all
significantly benefit by both treatment groups and this should be exciting
news to patients suffering from headaches who are seeking complimentary
and/or alternative treatments to pharmacological interventions. |
| NOTE:
The clinical significance review is the opinion of Dr Ken Mueller based
upon the information available at the time of posting. Unauthorized
use of the section on clinical significance is prohibited by Canadian
Copyright. The above research abstract is based on information
posted on the BMJ website. Click
here for full text. For further information, please
refer to the original article utilizing the publication information
provided. January 2, 2005 |
