CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 5:30-6:15 PM
Park J, White AR, James MA, Hemsley AG, Johnson P, Chambers
J, Ernst E.
Acupuncture for sub-acute stroke rehabilitation: a sham
controlled, subject- and assessor-blind, randomized trial.
Division for Research and Education in Complementary
and Integrative Therapies Harvard Medical School, Osher Institute jongbae_park@hms.harvard.edu
PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of acupuncture
for subacute stroke rehabilitation.
METHODS: Stroke patients with a recent (<4 weeks)
episode were randomized to receive 12 sessions of either real or sham
acupuncture over two weeks. The primary outcome was the change of Barthel
activities of daily living (ADL) score at the end of treatment. Secondary
outcome measures included NIHSS score, motoricity index, quality of
life (EQ 5-D [EuroQoL-5 Dimensional form] and EQ-VAS [EuroQoL-Visual
Analog Scale]). Assessments were carried out by blinded physicians.
RESULTS: A total of 116 patients (56 in the
real acupuncture group and 60 in the sham group) were randomized, and
98 (real, 48; sham, 50) completed treatment and 2 - week assessment.
Patient blinding by means of the sham acupuncture device was successful.
Acupuncture was well tolerated except for 1 seizure during a real acupuncture
session. The improvements in the Barthel scores were 4 points (IQR:
0 to 8) vs 3 points (IQR: 0 to 7) in the real and sham acupuncture groups
respectively (p=0.38). The secondary outcome measures also essentially
showed no significant effect of acupuncture. Post-hoc analysis by baseline
severity showed a greater improvement in leg function in the subgroup
with baseline Barthel score less than the median (6): 22 points (IQR
0 to 37) vs 0 points (IQR 0 to 4) in the acupuncture and sham control
groups respectively (p=0.02)
CONCLUSION: Acupuncture is not superior to sham
for recovery in ADL and health related quality of life after stroke,
although there may be a limited effect on leg function in more severely
affected patients.
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