The effectiveness of an acupuncturist working in general practice--an audit.

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Acupunct Med. 2004 Dec;22(4):214-20; discussion 220. Related Articles,

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The effectiveness of an acupuncturist working in general practice--an audit.

 

Harborow PW, Ogden J.

 

Department of General Practice, Guys, Kings and St Thomas' School of Medicine,

King's College, London.

 

This audit was based in general practice and examined 49 consecutive referrals

to a UK trained traditional Chinese acupuncturist. It aimed to assess the type

of patients referred to an acupuncturist, subsequent changes in health status,

whether the effectiveness of acupuncture was related to the type of presenting

problem and to examine which factors were predictive of the success of

acupuncture. The referred patients had a wide variety of conditions which were

categorised as to whether or not there was empirical evidence from trials of

responsiveness to acupuncture (evidence based vs non evidence based). Patients

completed measures of their health status prior to treatment and at two and six

month follow ups. In addition, the referring GP's beliefs about the prognosis of

the problem and the therapist's and patient's expectations of success were

measured at baseline. The results showed that referred patients reported poorer

health status than a historical sample of general practice patients and that

they showed significant improvements in all aspects of health status following

acupuncture. In particular, patients showed improved energy, pain, emotional

reactions, sleep and reduced social isolation at two months which were

maintained at six months. Physical mobility was improved at six months. In

addition, the results indicated that the best predictors of effectiveness were

the therapist's and patient's expectations of success at baseline. Effectiveness

was not related to the category of condition (evidence based or not) nor to the

GP's expectations about the prognosis of the condition. The results are

discussed in terms of implications for the role of acupuncture in General

Practice and selectively targeting patients who would be responsive to such an

approach.

 

PMID: 15628779 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]