ArticleJournal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)2015
"I Felt Like It Was God's Hands Putting the Needles In": A Qualitative Analysis of the Experience of Acupuncture for Chronic Pain in a Low-Income, Ethnically Diverse, and Medically Underserved Patient Population.
Article in Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Patients' experiences with acupuncture for diabetic polyneuropathy as part of a randomized controlled trial (ACUDPN) - a qualitative study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Trial
- Participant experiences receiving acupuncture for acute musculoskeletal pain in an emergency department: A qualitative evaluation.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Individual vs. Group Delivery of Acupuncture Therapy for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in Urban Primary Care-a Randomized Trial.Journal of general internal medicine · 2020Trial
- Effectiveness of integrative medicine group visits in chronic pain and depressive symptoms: A randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2019Trial
- "It's Better in a Group Anyway": Patient Experiences of Group and Individual Acupuncture.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2018Trial
- Barriers and Facilitators to Integrating Acupuncture into the U.S. Health Care System: A Scoping Review.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2024Article
- Usability and acceptability of virtual reality for chronic pain management among diverse patients in a safety-net setting: a qualitative analysis.JAMIA open · 2023Article
- SIO-ASCO guideline on integrative medicine for cancer pain management: implications for racial and ethnic pain disparities.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2023Article
- Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing Bundled Acupuncture and Yoga Therapy to Treat Chronic Pain in Community Healthcare Settings: A Feasibility Pilot.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2021Article
- Group Acupuncture Therapy With Yoga Therapy for Chronic Neck, Low Back, and Osteoarthritis Pain in Safety Net Setting for an Underserved Population: Design and Rationale for a Feasibility Pilot.Global advances in health and medicine · 2020Article
- What if Acupuncture Were Covered by Insurance for Pain Management? A Cross-Sectional Study of Cancer Patients at One Academic Center and 11 Community Hospitals.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2019Article
- Socio-Cultural Factors and Experience of Chronic Low Back Pain: a Spanish and Brazilian Patients' Perspective. A Qualitative Study.PloS one · 2016Article
- Group Acupuncture Therapy With Yoga Therapy for Chronic Neck, Low Back, and Osteoarthritis Pain in Safety Net Settings for an Underserved Population: A Feasibility Pilot Study.Global advances in integrative medicine and healthArticle
- Patient and staff perspectives on pain treatment experiences in a community clinic serving under-resourced older adults.Pain managementArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo examine the experience of patients from a low-income, ethnically diverse medically underserved population receiving acupuncture for chronic pain.
designQualitative analysis using inductive thematic analysis of interviews with participants from an acupuncture trial. SETTINGS/LOCATION: Four community health centers in the Bronx, New York.
participantsThirty-seven adults with chronic neck or back pain or osteoarthritis who participated in a previous acupuncture trial.
interventionsUp to 14 weekly acupuncture treatments. OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain and quality of life were examined in the original trial; this study examines qualitative outcomes.
resultsThe themes grouped naturally into three domains of the acupuncture experience: the decision-making process, the treatment experience, and the effect of acupuncture on health. Regarding decision-making, important factors were a willingness to try something new even if you do not necessarily "believe" in it or have specifically positive expectations; a sense that medications were not working for their pain, that they also caused significant adverse effects, and that natural strategies might be preferable; and a feeling of desperation. Cost and access were significant barriers to acupuncture treatment. Regarding the process of acupuncture, the open and personal communication with the acupuncturist was an important factor, as were the sense that the process of acupuncture related to a natural process of healing or correction within the body and that part of making acupuncture successful required being open to the power of the mind to generate a positive outcome. Regarding the effect of treatment, notable aspects were the deep sense of rest and relaxation participants reported during treatment as well as the benefit they experienced for conditions other than pain.
conclusionsThe themes that emerged in this ethnically diverse, low-income population were very similar to those that have emerged over the past decade of qualitative research on the acupuncture experience in other patient populations.
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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.