| Summary: | Background Musculoskeletal pain related to osteoarthritis of the knee (OA knee) and low back pain (LBP) are highly prevalent conditions affecting more than ten percent of the people in Hong Kong. Their social and economic impacts are considerable with around 70 percent of patients having the daily lives affected and some 20 to 25 percent rendered jobless. The G/SOPC’s of Hospital Authority (HA) in 2006 served nearly 120,000 OA knee and 200,000 LBP attendances with long waiting time and stretched service capacity. Western medicine for these mostly degenerative conditions is of limited efficacy and risk-prone especially among elderly patients. In recent years, traditional Chinese Medicine (CM) acupuncture has been increasingly accepted by both patients and relatives of these painful conditions. They are willing to pay for service acupuncture. Thus potentially, these patients can be diverted from G/SOPC’s to CM acupuncture service. As targeted in Annual Plan 08/09, through a east-west integrated and evidence-based (EB) approach, one can enhance the HA capacity to meet effectively the increasing healthcare demand of the aging population. Such initiative will be an innovative public-private partnership program with revenue generation from service acupuncture. It also will improve the acupuncture training and employment of the junior CM practitioners in HA CM clinics. Study Objective - To assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and other acupoint-stimulation therapies in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee (OA knee) and low back pain (LBP)
- To identify commonly used acupoints (meridians) and manipulation methods (electronic stimulation, laser stimulation, moxibustion, etc.) in the treatment of OA knee and LBP
- To systematically evaluate the quality of valid trials included in this review
- To prepare protocols for further clinical trials in Hong Kong to treat OA knee and LBP with acupuncture therapy
To develop a strategy for clinical services and researches in Hong Kong to treat OA knee and LBP with acupuncture therapy |