Acupuncture for chronic pain: Is acupuncture more than an effective placebo? A systematic review of pooled data from meta-analyses

Pain Practice

Volumn 10, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 94-102

  Hopton, Ann ^a   MacPherson, Hugh ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF YORK   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Acupuncture; Acupuncture analgesia; Back pain; Chronic pain; Headache; Knee pain; Placebo; Systematic review

Indexed keywords

ACUPUNCTURE; BACKACHE; CHRONIC PAIN; CLINICAL TRIAL; COCHRANE LIBRARY; COMPARATIVE STUDY; COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS; DATA BASE; DATA SYNTHESIS; DISEASE DURATION; EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE; HEADACHE; HEALTH CARE QUALITY; HUMAN; INFORMATION PROCESSING; KNEE PAIN; MEDLINE; META ANALYSIS; METHODOLOGY; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT; PLACEBO EFFECT; QUALITY CONTROL; REVIEW; SHAM PROCEDURE; SYSTEMATIC REVIEW; CHRONIC DISEASE; FACTUAL DATABASE; PAIN; RETROSPECTIVE STUDY; STATISTICS; TIME;

ACUPUNCTURE THERAPY; CHRONIC DISEASE; DATABASES, FACTUAL; HUMANS; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT (HEALTH CARE); PAIN; PLACEBO EFFECT; RETROSPECTIVE STUDIES; TIME FACTORS;

EID: 77954736017     PISSN: 15307085     EISSN: 15332500     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1533-2500.2009.00337.x     Document Type: Review

References (50)

1. Mcneil J, Binette J. Prevalence of disabilities and associated health conditions among adults-United States, 1999. JAMA 2001, 285:1571.
2. Breivik H, Collett B, Ventafridda V, Cohen R, Gallacher D. Survey of chronic pain in Europe: prevalence, impact on daily life, and treatment. Eur J Pain 2006, 10:287-333.
3. Shi Q, Langer G, Cohen J, Cleeland CS. People in pain: how do they seek relief? J Pain 2007, 8:624-636.
4. Stannard C, Johnson M. Chronic pain management-can we do better? An interview-based survey in primary care. Curr Med Res Opin 2003, 19:703-706.
5. Kuehn BM. FDA focuses on drugs and liver damage: labeling and other changes for acetaminophen. JAMA 2009, 302:369-371.
6. Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL. Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990-1997: results of a follow-up national survey. JAMA 1998, 280:1569-1575.
7. Thomas KJ, Coleman P, Nicholl JP. Trends in access to complementary or alternative medicines via primary care in England: 1995-2001 results from a follow-up national survey. Fam Pract 2003, 20:575-577.
8. MacPherson H, Sinclair-Lian N, Thomas K. Patients seeking care from acupuncture practitioners in the UK: a national survey. Complement Ther Med 2006, 14:20-30.
9. Witt CM, Pach D, Brinkhaus B. Safety of acupuncture: results of a prospective observational study with 229,230 patients and introduction of a medical information and consent form. Forsch Komplementarmed 2009, 16:91-97.
10. Ernst E. Acupuncture-a critical analysis. J Intern Med 2006, 259:125-137.
11. Derry CJ, McQuay HJ, Moore RA. Systematic review of systematic reviews of acupuncture published 1996-2005. Clin Med 2006, 6:381-386.
12. Whitlock EP, Lin JS, Chou R, Shekelle P, Robinson KA. Using existing systematic reviews in complex systematic reviews.[see comment]. Ann Intern Med 2008, 148:776-782.
13. Oxman AD, Guyatt GH. Validation of an index of the quality of review articles. J Clin Epidemiol 1991, 44:1271-1278.
14. Shea BJ, Bouter LM, Peterson J. External validation of a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews (AMSTAR). PLoS ONE [Electronic Resource] 2007, 2:e1350.
15. Furlan AD, van Tulder MW, Cherkin D. Acupuncture and dry-needling for low back pain: an updated systematic review within the framework of the Cochrane Collaboration. Spine 2005, 30:944-963.
16. Manheimer E, White A, Berman B, Forys K, Ernst E. Meta-analysis: acupuncture for low back pain. Ann Intern Med 2005, 142:651-663.
17. Kwon YD, Pittler MH, Ernst E. Acupuncture for peripheral joint osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2006, 45:1331-1337.
18. Bjordal JM, Johnson MI, Lopes-Martins RA, Bogen B, Chow R, Ljunggren AE. Short-term efficacy of physical interventions in osteoarthritic knee pain. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo-controlled trials. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2007, 8:51.
19. Manheimer E, Linde K, Lao L, Bouter LM, Berman BM. Meta-analysis: acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee. Ann Intern Med 2007, 146:868-877.
20. White A, Foster NE, Cummings M, Barlas P. Acupuncture treatment for chronic knee pain: a systematic review. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2007, 46:384-390.
21. Davis MA, Kononowech RW, Rolin SA, Spierings EL. Acupuncture for tension-type headache: a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials. J Pain 2008, 9:667-677.
22. Sun Y, Gan TJ. Acupuncture for the management of chronic headache: a systematic review. Anesth Analg 2008, 107:2038-2047.
23. Ammendolia C, Furlan AD, Imamura M, Irvin E, van Tulder M. Evidence-informed management of chronic low back pain with needle acupuncture. Spine J 2008, 8:160-172.
24. Selfe TK, Taylor AG. Acupuncture and osteoarthritis of the knee, a review of randomized controlled trials. Fam Community Health 2008, 31:247-254.
25. Endres HG, Diener HC, Molsberger A. Role of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine. Expert Rev Neurother 2007, 7:1121-1134.
26. Yuan J, Purepong N, Kerr DP, Park J, Bradbury I, McDonough S. Effectiveness of acupuncture for low back pain: a systematic review. Spine 2008, 33:E887-E900.
27. Griggs C, Jensen J. Effectiveness of acupuncture for migraine: critical literature review. J Adv Nurs 2006, 54:491-501.
28. Keller A, Hayden J, Bombardier C, van TM. Effect sizes of non-surgical treatments of non-specific low-back pain. Eur Spine J 2007, 16:1776-1788.
29. Lee MS, Pittler MH, Shin BC, Kong JC, Ernst E. Bee venom acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain: a review. J Pain 2008, 9:289-297.
30. Jadad AR, Moore RA, Carroll D. Assessing the quality of reports of randomized clinical trials: is blinding necessary? Control Clin Trials 1996, 17:1-12.
31. Prady SL, Richmond SJ, Morton VM, MacPherson H. A systematic evaluation of the impact of STRICTA and CONSORT recommendations on quality of reporting for acupuncture trials. PLoS ONE 2008, 3:e1577.
32. Moher D, Jones A, Lepage L. Use of the CONSORT statement and quality of reports of randomized trials: a comparative before-and-after evaluation. JAMA 2001, 285:1992-1995.
33. Madsen MV, Gotzsche PC, Hrobjartsson A. Acupuncture treatment for pain: systematic review of randomised clinical trials with acupuncture, placebo acupuncture, and no acupuncture groups. BMJ 2009, 338:a3115.
34. Morley S. Psychology of pain. Br J Anaesth 2008, 101:25-31.
35. Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Manheimer E, Vickers A, White AR. Acupuncture for tension-type headache. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2009, 1:CD007587.
36. Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Manheimer E, Vickers A, White AR. Acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2009, 1:CD001218. DOI:10.1002/14651858. CD001218.pub2
37. Brinkhaus B, Witt CM, Jena S. Acupuncture in patients with chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Intern Med 2006, 166:450-457.
38. Cherkin DC, Sherman KJ, Avins AL. A randomized trial comparing acupuncture, simulated acupuncture, and usual care for chronic low back pain. Arch Intern Med 2009, 169:858-866.
39. Foster NE, Thomas E, Barlas P. Acupuncture as an adjunct to exercise based physiotherapy for osteoarthritis of the knee: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2007, 335:436.
40. Wu T, Li Y, Bian Z, Liu G, Moher D. Randomized trials published in some Chinese journals: how many are randomized? Trials 2009, 10:46.
41. Linde K, Hammerschlag R, Lao L. Evidence overviews: the role of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Acupuncture Research: Strategies for Establishing an Evidence Base 2007, 199-217. MacPherson H, Hammerschlag R, Lewith GChnyer R. In, eds, 1st, ed, Edinburgh, U.K., Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier
42. White AR, Filshie J, Cummings TM. Clinical trials of acupuncture: consensus recommendations for optimal treatment, sham controls and blinding. Complement Ther Med 2001, 9:237-245.
43. Hrobjartsson A, Gotzsche PC. Is the placebo powerless? Update of a systematic review with 52 new randomized trials comparing placebo with no treatment. J Intern Med 2004, 256:91-100.
44. Witt C, Brinkhaus B, Jena S. Acupuncture in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomised trial. Lancet 2005, 366:136-143.
45. Melchart D, Streng A, Hoppe A. Acupuncture in patients with tension-type headache: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2005, 331:376-382.
46. Linde K, Streng A, Jurgens S. Acupuncture for patients with migraine: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2005, 293:2118-2125.
47. Report of the Select Committee on Science and Technology: Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2000, House of Lords, London, The Stationary Office
48. Vincent C. The safety of acupuncture. Br Med J 2001, 323:467-468.
49. White A, Hayhoe S, Hart A, Ernst E. Survey of adverse events following acupuncture (SAFA): a prospective study of 32,000 consultations. Acupunct Med 2001, 19:84-92.
50. MacPherson H, Thomas K, Walters S, Fitter M. The York acupuncture safety study: prospective survey of 34,000 treatments by traditional acupuncturists. Br Med J 2001, 323:486-487.