AIM December 2008 Text.qxd
نویسندگان
چکیده
High quality acupuncture clinical trials using single blind methods have been reported; however, the results of these single blind studies are controversial. Several investigators recently invented and validated a subject masking, single blind needle which to the subject looks and feels like a real needle. These recently designed placebo devices, which overcome the inadequacies of previous control procedures, provide enhanced evidence in acupuncture studies when it is impossible to blind the practitioner to the intervention. However, the specific effects of acupuncture beyond placebo measured in such studies may still be biased due to presence of unmasked practitioners. Thus, there has been a call for a methodological advance beyond single blind studies, despite the inherent difficulties in masking the practitioner in acupuncture studies. As a development in this field, we designed the double blind (practitioner and patient masking), nonpenetrating, placebo needle together with the matched ‘real’ needle. The design of the placebo needle successfully masked the true nature of the needle from experienced acupuncturists, even though they were informed of their potential use. For patient masking, we showed that non-penetrating needles are effective when the patients are informed that two different types of acupuncture needles are being
منابع مشابه
AIM December 2008 Text.qxd
During the last five years a large number of randomised controlled clinical trials (RCTs) have been published on the efficacy of acupuncture in different conditions. In most of these studies verum is compared with sham acupuncture. In general both verum and sham have been found to be effective, and often with little reported difference in outcome. This has repeatedly led to the conclusion that ...
متن کاملAIM June 2008 Text.qxd
Objective To evaluate the effect of acupuncture on rehabilitation of motor function, reduction in lymphoedema and improvement in perceived heaviness and tightness in the arms of women who had undergone breast cancer surgery. Subjects and Methods Twenty nine women who had had mastectomy or segmentectomy with axillary dissection, presenting with lymphoedema and/or a decrease in movement amplitude...
متن کاملAIM December 2008 Text.qxd
Background Studies by individual acupuncture practitioners have given an indication that offering acupuncture in primary care may reduce the need for referral to secondary care and reduce the costs of prescriptions. It would be informative to find out whether these findings can be supported by data from other practices. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of surveying national dat...
متن کاملAIM June 2007 Text.qxd
Several validated sham acupuncture devices have recently become available. While some debate exists on whether such needles are the best placebo control for an RCT of acupuncture, practical advice based on research experience is missing from the literature. This paper shares our concrete experience using the most commonly used such sham needle (the ‘Streitberger needle’ and its paired verum nee...
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