“Scientific evidence supports acupuncture as an integrative treatment for specific health conditions,” they note.
The study aimed to evaluate how well patients accepted acupuncture and how easily it could be integrated into conventional treatments. It also aimed to assess the effect of acupuncture on functional capacity and quality of life in patients receiving hemodialysis over the study period.
Patients were split into two groups. One received traditional acupuncture and the other received “sham” acupuncture—meaning the insertion of acupuncture needles in locations that don’t correspond to acupuncture points.
The study involved 48 patients who participated in the patient-assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial, meaning that the patients and the people assessing the results didn’t know which patients got real acupuncture and which ones got fake acupuncture.
Acceptance of the acupuncture treatment was measured by assessing both the percentage of patients who completed treatments and opinions about acupuncture by the patients and health professionals using questionnaires before and after the treatments.
Viability was measured by safety (the number of reported adverse events) and effectiveness using changes in functional capacity, peripheral muscle strength, and health-related quality-of-life scores after the treatments.
Study participants who had kidney failure and had been receiving weekly hemodialysis treatments for more than three months were chosen.
The Study’s Conclusions
The researchers found that those who received the traditional, or “verum,” acupuncture had better results than those who received the sham acupuncture.The traditional acupuncture group also had greater physical functioning, decreased body pain, and improved general health, vitality, and social functioning. They saw an improvement in overall health; improvement in specific areas targeted by kidney disease, including specific symptoms and effects related to kidney disease; experienced an increase in cognitive function; and had improved sleep.
When asked about the degree of discomfort felt during the acupuncture treatment, 17.8 percent said it was “neither comfortable nor uncomfortable,” 35.6 percent said it was “comfortable,” and 46.7 percent said it was “very comfortable.” Furthermore, the majority, or 91.1 percent, said they would recommend acupuncture treatment to others based on their experience.
As for acupuncture’s effectiveness and clinical applicability, 8.3 percent had a neutral opinion, while 33.3 percent felt it was “positive,” and 58.3 percent were “very positive” about the experience.
According to the study, all those involved thought the acupuncture treatments didn’t interfere with routine hemodialysis. Throughout the trial period, patients, as well as health professionals, didn’t observe or report any acupuncture-related adverse events, suggesting that using acupuncture during hemodialysis sessions can be considered safe.
Integration: The Future of Health Care?
The study authors note that the rise of traditional and complementary medicines in the past two decades have prompted regulators to assess their safety and integration into health systems.The regulation of NCTs began in 2003 and was recognized in 2019.
According to the study authors, this action toward regulation resulted in the attribution of 6,311 professional licenses, which contributed to the clients’ safety when using the NCTs because of the certainty that an accredited practitioner provided them.
“It is worth mentioning that acupuncture and TCM have the highest number of certified professionals,” the study authors noted.
As studies such as this one accumulate data about the benefits of traditional and complementary therapies, it’s likely that patients will see greater integration of these types of therapies into their health care systems. This integration could ultimately offer benefits to all patients who would like the option of more holistic approaches or who simply want more choices when it comes to their health care needs.