Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16980316›Full record

Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2006

Randomised controlled trial of a short course of traditional acupuncture compared with usual care for persistent non-specific low back pain.

K J Thomas, H MacPherson, L Thorpe, J Brazier, M Fitter, M J Campbell, M Roman, S J Walters, J Nicholl

Abstract readComparative StudyMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

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 79 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
79citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

79 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  4. Acupuncture for chronic nonspecific low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020
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  12. Acupuncture therapy for chronic lower back pain: a systematic review.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2010
    Pooled it
  13. Content and outcome of usual primary care for back pain: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2008
    Pooled it
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  16. Acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome: 2-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2017
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19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

K J ThomasSchool of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield.
H MacPherson
L Thorpe
J Brazier
M Fitter
M J Campbell
M Roman
S J Walters
J Nicholl

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine whether a short course of traditional acupuncture improves longer term outcomes for patients with persistent non-specific low back pain in primary care.

designPragmatic, open, 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.

interventions10 individualised acupuncture treatments from one of six qualified acupuncturists (160 patients) or usual care only (81 patients).

main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was SF-36 bodily pain, measured at 12 and 24 months. Other outcomes included reported use of analgesics, scores on the Oswestry pain disability index, safety, and patient satisfaction.

results39 general practitioners referred 289 patients of whom 241 were randomised. At 12 months average SF-36 pain scores increased by 33.2 to 64.0 in the acupuncture group and by 27.9 to 58.3 in the control group. Adjusting for baseline score and for any clustering by acupuncturist, the estimated intervention effect was 5.6 points (95% confidence interval -0.2 to 11.4) at 12 months (n = 213) and 8.0 points (2.8 to 13.2) at 24 months (n = 182). The magnitude of the difference between the groups was about 10%-15% of the final pain score in the control group. Functional disability was not improved. No serious or life threatening events were reported.

conclusionsWeak evidence was found of an effect of acupuncture on persistent non-specific low back pain at 12 months, but stronger evidence of a small benefit at 24 months. Referral to a qualified traditional acupuncturist for a short course of treatment seems safe and acceptable to patients with low back pain.

trial registrationISRCTN80764175 [controlled-trials.com].

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyAdolescentAdultAgedChronic DiseaseFemaleHumansLow Back PainMaleMiddle AgedPain MeasurementQuality of LifeTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID16980316
PMCPMC1570824

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.