Many older adults participating in acupuncture studies may have had previous experience with acupuncture, according to an analysis of data from the BackInAction trial. This finding has implications for the design and conduct of future pragmatic clinical trials involving acupuncture.
BackInAction, an NIH collaborative trial, is testing an acupuncture strategy for older patients with chronic back pain. Learn more about BackInAction here.
The researchers used data from baseline interviews conducted at one of the four study sites to determine participants’ previous experience with and attitudes toward acupuncture. They also compared clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of participants with and without acupuncture experience.
Nearly two-thirds of participants reported having previously received acupuncture, primarily for the treatment of pain. There were no significant differences in clinical and sociodemographic characteristics between participants with and without previous acupuncture treatment. The researchers concluded that it may be feasible to broaden the definition of “acupuncture naive” in the inclusion criteria for future pragmatic trials.
Read the full report.
BackInAction is supported by a grant administered by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) through the NIH HEAL Initiative.