Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic knee pain: protocol for a randomised controlled trial using a Zelen design

R S Hinman; P McCrory; M Pirotta; I Relf; K M Crossley; Prasuna Reddy; A Forbes; A Harris; B R Metcalf; M Kyriakides; K Novy; K L Bennell

doi:10.1186/1472-6882-12-161

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Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic knee pain: protocol for a randomised controlled trial using a Zelen design

Journal article

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Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic knee pain: protocol for a randomised controlled trial using a Zelen design

R S Hinman, P McCrory, M Pirotta, I Relf, K M Crossley, Prasuna Reddy, A Forbes, A Harris, B R Metcalf, M Kyriakides, …

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vol.12, 161

2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-12-161

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Abstract

Background: Chronic knee pain is a common and disabling condition in people over 50 years of age, with knee joint osteoarthritis being a major cause. Acupuncture is a popular form of complementary and alternative medicine for treating pain and dysfunction associated with musculoskeletal conditions. This pragmatic Zelen-design randomised controlled trial is investigating the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of needle and laser acupuncture, administered by medical practitioners, in people with chronic knee pain.Methods/Design: Two hundred and eighty two people aged over 50 years with chronic knee pain have been recruited from metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, Australia. Participants originally consented to participate in a longitudinal natural history study but were then covertly randomised into one of four treatment groups. One group continued as originally consented (ie natural history group) and received no acupuncture treatment. The other three were treatment groups: i) laser acupuncture, ii) sham laser or, iii) needle acupuncture. Acupuncture treatments used a combined Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine style, were delivered by general practitioners and comprised 8-12 visits over 12 weeks. Follow-up is currently ongoing. The primary outcomes are pain measured by an 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS) and self-reported physical function measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster (WOMAC) Universities Osteoarthritis Index subscale at the completion of treatment at 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes include quality of life, global rating of change scores and additional measures of pain (other NRS and WOMAC subscale) and physical function (NRS). Additional parameters include a range of psychosocial measures in order to evaluate potential relationships with acupuncture treatment outcomes. Relative cost-effectiveness will be determined from health service usage and outcome data. Follow-up assessments will also occur at 12 months.Discussion: The findings from this study will help determine whether laser and/or needle acupuncture is efficacious, and cost-effective, in the management of chronic knee pain in older people.Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry reference: ACTRN12609001001280. © 2012 Hinman et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Details

Title: Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic knee pain: protocol for a randomised controlled trial using a Zelen design
Authors: R S Hinman (Author) - University of Melbourne
P McCrory (Author) - University of Melbourne
M Pirotta (Author) - University of Melbourne
I Relf (Author) - University of Melbourne
K M Crossley (Author) - University of Queensland
Prasuna Reddy (Author) - University of Newcastle
A Forbes (Author) - Monash University
A Harris (Author) - Monash University
B R Metcalf (Author) - University of Melbourne
M Kyriakides (Author) - University of Melbourne
K Novy (Author) - University of Melbourne
K L Bennell (Author) - University of Melbourne
Publication details: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vol.12, 161; 11
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
Date published: 2012
DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-12-161
ISSN: 1472-6882
Copyright note: Copyright © 2012 Hinman et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451208202621
Output Type: Journal article

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