Open AccessPerformance of acupuncture as labor analgesia in the clinical setting
Author(s) -
NESHEIM BRITTINGJERD,
KINGE RAGNHILD
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.1080/00016340500432523
Subject(s) - medicine , acupuncture , logistic regression , randomized controlled trial , anesthesia , odds ratio , pregnancy , vaginal delivery , parity (physics) , multivariate analysis , obstetrics , surgery , alternative medicine , physics , pathology , particle physics , biology , genetics
Background. Three randomized controlled trials have shown that acupuncture during labor can reduce the use of epidural analgesia and meperidine. To supplement these trials, we have designed an observational study to answer the research question: “Do laboring women in a normal hospital setting who receive acupuncture require less epidural analgesia than those who do not receive acupuncture?” Methods. Setting: Delivery ward of a tertiary care University hospital in Norway. Subjects: All attempted vaginal labors during the period 01.12.99–31.12.03 ( n =17,741). Statistical analysis: Multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results. The dependent variable in the regression analysis was use of epidural analgesia. The independent variables were: use of acupuncture, use of nitrous oxide, use of meperidine, parity, ethnicity, age, duration of pregnancy, type of labor (induced or not), and duration of first stage of labor. In the multivariate analysis the odds ratio for having an epidural was 0.6 (95% CI 0.5–0.7) for the patients having acupuncture compared to those not having acupuncture. Conclusions. Women having acupuncture as labor analgesia in the clinical setting have a reduced use of epidural analgesia.