Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32764081›Full record

Trial reportBMJ open2020

Acupuncture for acute non-specific low back pain: a randomised, controlled, multicentre intervention study in general practice-the Acuback study.

Trygve Skonnord, Holgeir Skjeie, Mette Brekke, Atle Klovning, Margreth Grotle, Eline Aas, Ibrahimu Mdala, Arne Fetveit

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01439412 (Acupuncture in Acute Nonspecific Low Back Pain; a Randomized Controlled Multicenter Study in General Practice), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 17% 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.

NCT01439412 nacompletednot on this map

Acupuncture in Acute Nonspecific Low Back Pain; a Randomized Controlled Multicenter Study in General Practice

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of OsloRan2014 to 2018Enrolled185ConditionsLow Back PainArmsAcupuncture and standard treatment, Standard treatment in general practice
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Trygve SkonnordDepartment of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway trygve.skonnord@medisin.uio.no.ORCID 0000-0003-4816-076X
Holgeir SkjeieDepartment of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-7586-8651
Mette BrekkeGeneral Practice Research Unit (AFE), Department of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0003-3454-2329
Atle KlovningDepartment of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-2917-1845
Margreth GrotleDepartment of Physiotherapy, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-8243-1143
Eline AasDepartment of Health Management and Health Economics, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-9878-6165
Ibrahimu MdalaGeneral Practice Research Unit (AFE), Department of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-5204-1934
Arne FetveitGeneral Practice Research Unit (AFE), Department of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-8566-1972
University of Oslo · NOOsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate whether a single treatment session of acupuncture, when applied in addition to standard treatment for acute low back pain (ALBP), reduces the time to recovery compared with standard treatment alone.

designA multicentre, randomised, controlled trial.

settingConducted at 11 Norwegian general practitioners' (GPs') offices.

participants171 adults aged 20-55 years seeking their GP for ALBP (≤14 days) between March 2014 and March 2017. Patients with secondary back pain and previous sick leave and acupuncture treatment was excluded.

interventionsThe participants were randomised to either the control group (CG) or the acupuncture group (AG) by online software. The CG received standard treatment according to the Norwegian guidelines, while the AG received one session of Western medical acupuncture treatment in addition to standard treatment. The statistician was blinded to group status. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was median days to recovery. Secondary outcomes were pain intensity, global improvement, back-specific functional status, sick leave, medication and adverse effects.

results185 participants were randomised, 95 in the CG and 90 in the AG. 14 participants did not receive the allocated intervention and 4 were excluded from the analysis. Thus, 167 participants were included in the analysis, 86 in the CG and 81 in the AG. The groups were similar according to baseline characteristics. The median time to recovery was 14 days for the CG and 9 days for the AG, HR 1.37 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.96), (p=0.089). No serious adverse effects were reported.

conclusionsWe did not find any statistically significant reduction in time-to-recovery after a single session of acupuncture for ALBP compared with standard care. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01439412.

Indexed as

AcupunctureAcupuncture TherapyGeneral PracticeLow Back PainAdultBack PainHumansMiddle AgedTreatment OutcomeYoung Adultback painclinical trialscomplementary medicinepain managementprimary carerehabilitation medicine

Identifiers

PMID32764081
PMCPMC7412620
OpenAlexW2111844257

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.