Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21801508›Full record

Trial reportThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2011

Acupuncture for 'frequent attenders' with medically unexplained symptoms: a randomised controlled trial (CACTUS study).

Charlotte Paterson, Rod S Taylor, Peter Griffiths, Nicky Britten, Sue Rugg, Jackie Bridges, Bruce McCallum, Gerad Kite, CACTUS study team

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.5field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
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

24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Traditional acupuncture for people with medically unexplained symptoms: a longitudinal qualitative study of patients' experiences.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011
    Trial
  4. Article
  5. Whole Systems Research Methods in Health Care: A Scoping Review.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2019
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Analysis and Thoughts about the Negative Results of International Clinical Trials on Acupuncture.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2015
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Methodological issues in pragmatic trials of complex interventions in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2012
    Article
  14. Acupuncture for 'frequent attenders' with medically unexplained symptoms.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011
    Article
  15. Acupuncture for 'frequent attenders' with medically unexplained symptoms.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011
    Article
  16. Acupuncture for 'frequent attenders' with medically unexplained symptoms.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011
    Article
  17. Acupuncture for 'frequent attenders' with medically unexplained symptoms.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011
    Article
  18. Acupuncture for 'frequent attenders' with medically unexplained symptoms.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011
    Article
  19. Acupuncture for 'frequent attenders' with medically unexplained symptoms.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011
    Article
  20. Acupuncture for 'frequent attenders' with medically unexplained symptoms.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Charlotte PatersonInstitute of Health Services Research, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, UK. charlotte.paterson@pms.ac.uk
Rod S Taylor
Peter Griffiths
Nicky Britten
Sue Rugg
Jackie Bridges
Bruce McCallum
Gerad Kite
CACTUS study team
City, University of London · GBPeninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMedically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are common and difficult to treat.

aimTo investigate the effectiveness of adding five-element acupuncture to usual care in 'frequent attenders' with MUPS. DESIGN AND

settingRandomised controlled trial in four London general practices.

methodParticipants were 80 adults with MUPS, consulting GPs ≥8 times/year. The intervention was individualised five-element acupuncture, ≥12 sessions, immediately (acupuncture group) and after 26 weeks (control group). The primary outcome was 26-week Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile (MYMOP); secondary outcomes were wellbeing (W-BQ12), EQ-5D, and GP consultation rate. Intention-to-treat analysis was used, adjusting for baseline outcomes.

resultsParticipants (80% female, mean age 50 years, mixed ethnicity) had high health-resource use. Problems were 59% musculoskeletal; 65% >1 year duration. The 26-week questionnaire response rate was 89%. Compared to baseline, the mean 26-week MYMOP improved by 1.0 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.4 to 1.5) in the acupuncture group and 0.6 (95% CI = 0.3 to 0.9) in the control group (adjusted mean difference: acupuncture versus control -0.6 [95% CI = -1.1 to 0] P = 0.05). Other between-group adjusted mean differences were: W-BQ12 4.4 (95% CI = 1.6 to 7.2) P = 0.002; EQ-5D index 0.03 (95% CI = -0.11 to 0.16) P = 0.70; consultation rate ratio 0.90 (95% CI = 0.70 to 1.15) P = 0.4; and number of medications 0.56 (95% CI = 0.47 to 1.6) P = 0.28. All differences favoured the acupuncture group. Imputation for missing values reduced the MYMOP adjusted mean difference to -0.4 (95% CI = -0.9 to 0.1) P = 0.12. Improvements in MYMOP and W-BQ12 were maintained at 52 weeks.

conclusionThe addition of 12 sessions of five-element acupuncture to usual care resulted in improved health status and wellbeing that was sustained for 12 months.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyAdultAgedAged, 80 and overChronic DiseaseFamily PracticeFatigueFemaleHealth StatusHospitalizationHumansLondonMaleMiddle AgedMood DisordersMusculoskeletal Diseases

Identifiers

PMID21801508
PMCPMC3103692
OpenAlexW2158475467

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.