Insights & Discussion
Both individual and group acupuncture therapy delivered in primary care settings reduced chronic pain and improved physical function at 12 weeks.
Our results demonstrate that individual and group acupuncture can be offered safely in the community health center setting, that acceptability to patients and clinicians is very high, and that a substantial proportion of patients with chronic pain will have clinically significant improvement in both pain and overall physical health. Based on these results, acupuncture therapy should be offered as part of pain care to underserved populations in the primary care setting. Non-inferiority of group treatment was not demonstrated, suggesting that further research is needed on the optimal strategy for delivering group acupuncture in this context to consider it as effective as individual treatment.
Discover Related Insights
Acupuncture therapy offered in the group setting was effective in reducing pain severity, pain interference, and depression in patients with chronic neck, back, or shoulder pain or osteoarthritis.
2018 Pain Medicine Acupuncture Therapy in a Group Setting for Chronic Pain Benjamin Kligler, Arya Nielsen, Corinne Kohrherr, , Tracy Schmid, Eve Waltermaurer, et al.
Subjects received eight weekly acupuncture therapy sessions in a group setting. Acupuncture therapy included a combination of palpation, acupuncture needling, Tui na, Gua sha, and auricular treatment. Baseline pain levels were established in a two- to four-week run-in; assessment of the intervention impact on pain intensity, mood, and functional status were made at the end of the treatment period (eight weeks) and 16 weeks after completion of intervention (24 weeks).
Of the total 113 participants recruited for the trial, 96 completed the 24-week protocol. We found a statistically and clinically significant decrease in pain severity, pain interference, and depression in our study population. There were no serious adverse events.
Acupuncture therapy offered in the group setting was effective in reducing pain severity, pain interference, and depression in patients with chronic neck, back, or shoulder pain or osteoarthritis. Benefit persisted through the 24-week measure despite no additional treatment. This finding has potentially important implications for improving access to effective acupuncture treatment for patients with limited financial resources.
Patients in both group and individual acupuncture study arms valued the pain relief, improved quality of life, and relaxation experienced during acupuncture.
2018 The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine "It's Better in a Group Anyway": Patient Experiences of Group and Individual Acupuncture Chuang, E., Hashai, N., Buonora, M., et al.
Systematic Review
Group acupuncture can decrease cost and increase capacity by decreasing clinic space needs and increasing patient volume per acupuncturist; however, the effectiveness and patient acceptability of group and individual session acupuncture have never been directly compared.
Patients in both study arms valued the pain relief, improved quality of life, and relaxation experienced during acupuncture. Privacy and mixed-sex groups were cited as a concern by a minority of patients; however, most of those randomized to the group setting noted that these concerns abated after initiating treatment. Differences between arms included the depth of the relationship with the acupuncturist and misgivings related to the treatment space. Group dynamics varied; some groups fostered a supportive, therapeutic interaction, while others were more reserved.
Our findings suggest that the group setting, community-based locations, and low cost of this model do not compromise quality of care, and potentially reduce access barriers for those who might not otherwise consider acupuncture.
2013 BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies Patient perspectives on care received at community acupuncture clinics: a qualitative thematic analysis Tippens KM, Chao MT, Connelly E, Locke A.
In this study, Portland community acupuncture patients perceive their care as high quality. Themes that emerged from these analyses highlight how the community acupuncture model facilitates access to acupuncture. Patients mentioned the facilities and material resources that support the provision of care, such as aspects of the physical setting and relaxing atmosphere. Patients identified both technical and interpersonal processes of care received at WCA that support patient engagement. They described their processes for accessing care as empowering, allowing them to exercise control over when and how they are treated. Our findings suggest that the group setting, community-based locations, and low cost of this model do not compromise quality of care, and potentially reduce access barriers for those who might not otherwise consider acupuncture. In addition, the community acupuncture model may offer individuals the opportunity for increased frequency of treatments, which raises pertinent questions about the dose–response relationship of acupuncture and health outcomes. Further work is needed to examine aspects of access, costs, and quality of care with larger, more representative samples of community acupuncture patients from multiple clinics. Future studies should also include the perspectives and experiences of patients who initiated, and subsequently, terminated treatment through community acupuncture clinics due to dissatisfaction.