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Acupuncture for persistent allergic rhinitis: a randomised, sham‐controlled trial
Author(s) -
Xue Charlie C L,
An Xuedong,
Cheung Thomas P,
Da Costa Cliff,
Le George B,
Thien Frank C,
Story David F
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01275.x
Subject(s) - medicine , acupuncture , randomized controlled trial , anesthesia , physical therapy , pathology , alternative medicine
Objective: To investigate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in persistent allergic rhinitis (PAR) Design: Randomised, single‐blind, sham‐controlled trial conducted from May 2004 to February 2005. Participants and intervention: 80 patients with PAR (age, 16–70 years) were randomly assigned to receive real or sham acupuncture. After a 1‐week baseline period, participants were treated twice weekly for 8 weeks and followed up for another 12 weeks. Main outcome measures: Nasal obstruction, sneezing, rhinorrhoea and nasal itch were each self‐assessed daily on a 5‐point scale, and scores were aggregated weekly. The sum of the symptom scores (total nasal symptom score, TNSS) was also determined. A secondary outcome was use of PAR relief medication. Results: After 8 weeks’ treatment, the weekly mean difference in TNSS from baseline was greater with real (−17.2; 95% CI, −24.6 to −9.8) than with sham acupuncture (−4.2; 95% CI, −11.0 to 2.7) ( P = 0.01). The decrease in individual symptom score was also greater with real acupuncture for rhinorrhoea ( P < 0.01) but not the other symptoms. At the end of follow‐up, the greater difference in TNSS from baseline in the real acupuncture group was still apparent: real, −21.0 (95% CI, −29.1 to −12.9) versus sham, − 2.3 (95% CI, −10.2 to 5.6) ( P = 0.001). Moreover, the differences from baseline in all four individual symptom scores were greater for the real than for the sham group ( P < 0.05). Real and sham acupuncture were both well tolerated. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that acupuncture is effective in the symptomatic treatment of PAR. Trial registration: Australian Government Therapeutic Goods Administration CTN 034/2004.