| Background Neck pain is a common and challenging health problem in the world population, with average lifetime prevalence of 48.5%. It is experienced by people of all ages, with the 12-month prevalence of any neck pain among adults ranged from 12.1% to 71.5% and among children ranged from 34.5% to 71.5% As regards to neck pain, two systematic reviews on randomized controlled trials showed that abdominal acupuncture had positive effect for treatment of neck pain. However, due to the lack of large sample size, high quality and well-designed studies, its effectiveness is still inconclusive. In view of the above, a rigorously designed evidence-based clinical trial is developed to investigate the efficacy of abdominal acupuncture for neck pain in Hong Kong. Objective This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of abdominal acupuncture for the treatment of neck pain. It will examine whether abdominal acupuncture treatment can reduce neck pain and improve quality of life for neck pain patients.
Results There were 154 randomized participants, the mean (SD) [range] age was 45.0 (9.1) [20-62] years, 125 (81%) were women, mean neck pain duration was 6.0 years (range, 3 months-30 years), all attended six treatment sessions and completed all follow-ups with no attrition. Repeated- measures analyses showed significant differences between groups across time until 4-week assessment on NPQ (p < .001), VAS (p < .001) and physical component summary of SF-36v2 (p = .002), with abdominal acupuncture had significantly greater improvement than placebo group. These improvements were sustained at 12-week for abdominal acupuncture group. Credibility assessment had improved for abdominal acupuncture while worsened for sham post-treatment. Successful blinding was observed between groups with no significant differences in their evaluation after first treatment (p > 0.05) and post-treatment (p > 0.05). Most participants rated satisfied with the treatment. No significant difference in pain relief medication usage and no serious adverse events were reported.
Conclusion Among adults with chronic neck pain, treatment with abdominal acupuncture, compared with placebo one, resulted in greater improvement in functional performance, pain intensity and some dimensions of health-related quality of life measures, with significant differences in outcomes between groups. These findings suggest that abdominal acupuncture may be an effective treatment option for patients with neck pain. |