Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain in Routine Care: A Multicenter Observational Study.

Weidenhammer, Wolfgang PhD ;  Linde, Klaus MD ;  Streng, Andrea PhD ;  Hoppe, Andrea MD ;  Melchart, Dieter MD

The objective of this study was to investigate patient characteristics and outcomes after undergoing acupuncture treatment for chronic low back pain (cLBP) and to analyze chronification, pain grading, and depression as predictors for treatment outcomes.  A total of 2564 patients who were treated by 1607 physicians were included in the main analysis. After 6 months 45.5% of patients demonstrated clinically significant improvements in their functional ability scores, the mean number of days with pain was decreased by half and a 30% decrease from baseline in days of work lost was reported. The authors conclude that acupuncture treatment is associated with clinically relevant improvements in patients suffering from cLBP of varying degrees of chronification and/or severity.

Clinical Journal of Pain.    23(2):128-135, February 2007.

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