Acupuncture for chronic pain patients. Treatment outcomes - the role of the acupuncturist

Conclusion These results are relevant to the choice of appropriate criteria for quality assessment of acupuncture and emphasize the role of patient satisfaction within quality assurance. Pre- and post-treatment differences in a set of pain related measurements were determined using a combination of data from an observational study and a survey of physicians. The following features of the physicians' study were investigated: specialisation, qualification in acupuncture, rate at which patients received acupuncture, use of further, complementary methods in the practice. The results were statistically adjusted according to different basic conditions (case-mix). A total of 4,084 patients with chronic headache, lower back pain or arthritic pain were treated by 1,838 acupuncturists. There were no differences in success for patients treated by physicians passing through shorter (A diploma) or longer (B diploma) training courses in acupuncture. Patients treated by orthopedists showed less improvement than those treated by physicians with other specialisations. However, these differences had disappeared 6 months after the onset of acupuncture. These longer term effects were more pronounced for physicians offering additional complementary methods in their practice. Improvement after acupuncture and patient satisfaction were positively correlated.