Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2003; 8: 159
The German Social Law allows health insurance companies to perform so-called Modellvorhaben (trial phases) in order to investigate effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare interventions. A group of German social health insurance companies is funding a Modellvorhaben on acupuncture treatment of outpatients suffering from chronic pain. We report preliminary results of an observational study, representing one component of the concomitant research strategy, on the usage and the overall therapeutic effect of acupuncture, and on the incidence of adverse effects.
Open, prospective multicentre study of approximately (expected) 500 000 patients with chronic headache, low back pain or osteoarthritic pain. Acupuncture is performed by registered physicians with at least 140 h of acupuncture training.
By March 25, 2002, data from 97 733 patients treated by 7050 acupuncturists were available for analysis. Of these patients, 45.7% suffered from low back pain, 35.2% from chronic headache, 12.1% from osteoarthritic pain and 7.0% from multiple indications; 70.8% of the patients were treated with acupuncture for the first time. Patients received 7.9 acupuncture sessions, on average, and 34.3% received concomitant treatment. The therapeutic effect judged by the physician was very good in 21.6% of the patients, good in 55.1%, minimal in 16.8% and lacking in 3.6%. The physicians reported adverse effects in 7.1% of all patients and severe adverse effects in six cases (i.e. at a frequency < 0.01%).
Thus far, in the hands of qualified practitioners, acupuncture seems to be an effective and safe treatment for the indications investigated.
