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Acupuncture in patients with tension-type headache: randomised controlled trial
Dieter Melchart1, Andrea Streng, Andrea Hoppe
1Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, Department of Internal Medicine II, Technische Universität München, Kaiserstr 9, 80801 Munich, Germany.
BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)
|August 2, 2005
Summary
Acupuncture effectively reduced headache days for tension-type headache patients compared to no treatment. However, it showed no significant advantage over minimal acupuncture in this study.
Area of Science:
- Integrative and Complementary Medicine
- Neurology
- Pain Management
Background:
- Tension-type headache is a prevalent neurological disorder.
- Acupuncture is a common complementary therapy for headache.
- Evidence comparing acupuncture to sham or minimal acupuncture is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture for tension-type headache.
- To compare acupuncture against minimal acupuncture and a waiting list control group.
Main Methods:
- A three-armed randomized controlled multicenter trial involving 270 patients.
- Interventions included acupuncture, minimal acupuncture (superficial needling), or a waiting list control.
- Headache diaries tracked the number of headache days over 12 weeks.
Main Results:
- Acupuncture reduced headache days by 7.2 days, minimal acupuncture by 6.6 days, and the waiting list by 1.5 days.
- Acupuncture was significantly more effective than the waiting list (P < 0.001).
- No significant difference was found between acupuncture and minimal acupuncture (P = 0.58).
Conclusions:
- Acupuncture is more effective than no treatment for tension-type headache.
- The study did not demonstrate acupuncture to be significantly superior to minimal acupuncture.
- Further research may clarify the specific benefits of true acupuncture over sham interventions.