Acupuncture Shown to Benefit Headache in Primary Care

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Acupuncture Shown to Benefit Headache in Primary Care

by Pincock

LONDON (Reuters Health) Mar 15 - Patients with chronic headache gain

persisting, clinically relevant improvements in their condition when

given acupuncture, researchers report in the British Medical Journal

" Online First " published March 15th. The intervention is also cost

effective, they say.

The clinical benefits of the treatment were particularly noticeable for

those patients with migraine, report Dr. Vickers, at Memorial

Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and UK based colleagues.

They randomly assigned 401 patients with chronic headache,

" predominantly migraine, " to either a maximum of 12 acupuncture

treatments over three months, or a control intervention of usual care

from their general practitioner.

" Acupuncture in addition to standard care results in persisting,

clinically relevant benefits for primary care patients with chronic

headache, particularly migraine, compared with controls, " the

researchers write in a paper published online on March 15.

Specifically, the primary endpoint of headache score at 12 months was

better in the acupuncture group, who had a 34% reduction from baseline,

compared with 16% in the control group.

Patients in the acupuncture group had the equivalent of 22 fewer days of

headache a year.

There were also benefits in quality of life measures. On the SF-36

health status questionnaire, differences reached statistical

significance for physical role functioning, energy and change in health.

The acupuncture patients took 15% less medication, made 25% fewer visits

to their GP and took 15% fewer days off work.

This is by far the largest trial ever done in this area, which also

tried to reflect the " real world " conditions of the National Health

Service, Dr. Vickers told Reuters Health.

In a separate paper, the group assessed the cost-effectiveness of

offering acupuncture and found it to be " relatively cost effective

compared with a number of other interventions provided by the NHS. "

" There is no absolute threshold for calling something cost-effective or

not, but the NHS has made many decisions based on a figure of 30,000

(pounds) per quality adjusted life year, " Dr. Vickers said. Their

estimated cost was around 9000 pounds, " and we erred conservatively, " he

said. " So clearly acupuncture compares well with other interventions

that have been given the NHS go ahead. "

Given these findings, the therapy should be widely available through the

National Health Service (NHS), they conclude. " Expansion of NHS

acupuncture services for headache should be considered. "

BMJ 2004.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/471814

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org