P02.08
Purpose: The same acupuncture treatment is not equally effective for every patient. This report focuses on patients' baseline characteristics that are related to greater or lesser positive outcomes from acupuncture treatments.
Methods: This secondary analysis study looks at 42 patients who i) completed an initial and 6th week follow-up “Measure Your Medical Outcome Profile” (MYMOP) form and ii) had diseases of the musculoskeletal system and/or connective tissue as the main complaints on their health history form and iii) visited the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) main clinic site in Massachusetts, USA in 2011.
Results: Patients were mostly female (67%) and White (74%) with 76% having at least a college education. Certain baseline patient characteristics showed statistically significant relationships with symptom outcomes, as measured by the MYMOP after short term acupuncture treatments. For example, in patients with musculoskeletal conditions, higher baseline pain score was significantly related to greater improvement over 6 weeks of treatment.
Conclusion: We found some potential variables that are related to acupuncture treatment outcomes in patients with musculoskeletal conditions. The findings may not apply in other treatment of different conditions. Potential confounders and biases are discussed.
Contact: Lisa Conboy, lisa_conboy@hms.harvard.edu
