Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2006
Treatment of low back pain by acupressure and physical therapy: randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 145 citations in OpenAlex.
- Manipulation and mobilization for treating chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society · 2018Pooled it
- Massage and Performance Recovery: A Meta-Analytical Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2016Pooled it
- The effect of journal impact factor, reporting conflicts, and reporting funding sources, on standardized effect sizes in back pain trials: a systematic review and meta-regression.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2015Pooled it
- Massage for low-back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Traditional Chinese medicine for neck pain and low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- The evidence for Shiatsu: a systematic review of Shiatsu and acupressure.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2011Pooled it
- The efficacy of acupressure for symptom management: a systematic review.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2011Pooled it
- Low back pain (chronic).BMJ clinical evidence · 2008Pooled it
- Dry needling of the gluteus-medius muscle, combined with standard care, for chronic low back pain - a pilot randomized sham-controlled trial.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Low-dose laser acupuncture for non-specific chronic low back pain: a double-blind randomised controlled trial.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2014Trial
- Short-term therapeutic effects of 890-nanometer light therapy for chronic low back pain: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study.Lasers in medical science · 2014Trial
- Trial
- The efficacy of acupressure at the Sanyinjiao point in the improvement of women's general health.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2011Trial
- Cardiovascular benefits of acupressure (Jin Shin) following stroke.Complementary therapies in medicine · 2010Trial
- Exploring integrative medicine for back and neck pain - a pragmatic randomised clinical pilot trial.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2009Trial
- Randomised controlled trial of Alexander technique lessons, exercise, and massage (ATEAM) for chronic and recurrent back pain.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2008Trial
- Transcriptomic insights into the anti-apoptotic effect of Tuina in rabbit model of intervertebral disc degeneration.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Article
- An Interventional Response Phenotyping Study in Chronic Low Back Pain: Protocol for a Mechanistic Randomized Controlled Trial.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of acupressure in terms of disability, pain scores, and functional status.
designRandomised controlled trial.
settingOrthopaedic clinic in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
participants129 patients with chronic low back pain.
interventionAcupressure or physical therapy for one month.
main outcome measuresSelf administered Chinese versions of standard outcome measures for low back pain (primary outcome: Roland and Morris disability questionnaire) at baseline, after treatment, and at six month follow-up.
resultsThe mean total Roland and Morris disability questionnaire score after treatment was significantly lower in the acupressure group than in the physical therapy group regardless of the difference in absolute score (- 3.8, 95% confidence interval - 5.7 to - 1.9) or mean change from the baseline (- 4.64, - 6.39 to - 2.89). Acupressure conferred an 89% (95% confidence interval 61% to 97%) reduction in significant disability compared with physical therapy. The improvement in disability score in the acupressure group compared with the physical group remained at six month follow-up. Statistically significant differences also occurred between the two groups for all six domains of the core outcome, pain visual scale, and modified Oswestry disability questionnaire after treatment and at six month follow-up.
conclusionsAcupressure was effective in reducing low back pain in terms of disability, pain scores, and functional status. The benefit was sustained for six months.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.