Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2006
A randomised controlled trial of acupuncture care for persistent low back pain: cost effectiveness analysis.
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 46 papers, 3 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
46 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 145 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring the rules of related parameters in acupuncture for post-stroke dysphagia based on data mining.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of guideline-endorsed treatments for low back pain: a systematic review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2011Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of general practice care for low back pain: a systematic review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2011Pooled it
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- Cost-effectiveness analysis of acupuncture compared with usual care for acute non-specific low back pain: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2022Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of acupuncture versus standard care for pelvic and low back pain in pregnancy: A randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2019Trial
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- Exploring the cost-utility of stratified primary care management for low back pain compared with current best practice within risk-defined subgroups.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2012Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of counselling, graded-exercise and usual care for chronic fatigue: evidence from a randomised trial in primary care.BMC health services research · 2012Trial
- Imaging the functional connectivity of the Periaqueductal Gray during genuine and sham electroacupuncture treatment.Molecular pain · 2010Trial
- Randomised controlled trial of Alexander technique lessons, exercise, and massage (ATEAM) for chronic and recurrent back pain: economic evaluation.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2008Trial
- Randomised controlled trial of a short course of traditional acupuncture compared with usual care for persistent non-specific low back pain.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2006Trial
- A cost-utility analysis of pharmacopuncture versus physiotherapy for chronic low back pain: A multicenter, pragmatic randomized controlled trial.Integrative medicine research · 2025Article
- Modulation effects of imagery acupuncture and no-touch double-blinded placebo acupuncture, a cross-over pilot study.Brain behavior and immunity integrative · 2024Article
- Acupuncture for Low-Back Pain.Medical acupuncture · 2021Article
- The Intersection of Dissemination Research and Acupuncture: Applications for Chronic Low Back Pain.Global advances in health and medicine · 2021Article
- Acupuncture Treatment Modulates the Connectivity of Key Regions of the Descending Pain Modulation and Reward Systems in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the cost effectiveness of acupuncture in the management of persistent non-specific low back pain.
designCost effectiveness analysis of a randomised controlled trial.
settingThree private acupuncture clinics and 18 general practices in York, England.
participants241 adults aged 18-65 with non-specific low back pain of 4-52 weeks' duration.
interventionsTen individualised acupuncture treatments over three months from acupuncturists trained in traditional Chinese medicine (n = 160) or usual care only (n = 81).
main outcome measureIncremental cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained over two years.
resultsTotal costs to the United Kingdom's health service during the two year study period were higher on average for the acupuncture group (460 pounds sterling; 673 euros; 859 dollars) than for the usual care group (345 pounds sterling) because of the costs associated with initial treatment. The mean incremental health gain from acupuncture at 12 months was 0.012 QALYs (95% confidence interval -0.033 to 0.058) and at 24 months was 0.027 QALYs (-0.056 to 0.110), leading to a base case estimate of 4241 pounds sterling per QALY gained. This result was robust to sensitivity analysis. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed acupuncture to have a more than 90% chance of being cost effective at a pound20 000 cost per QALY threshold.
conclusionA short course of traditional acupuncture for persistent non-specific low back pain in primary care confers a modest health benefit for minor extra cost to the NHS compared with usual care. Acupuncture care for low back pain seems to be cost effective in the longer term.
trial registrationISRCTN80764175 [controlled-trials.com].
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Registered trials
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.