Effective Evaluation Of Acupuncture At Local And Distal Points For Chonic Shoulder Pain

Objective: To assess the effects of acupuncture at local points, distal points or both on chronic shoulder pain.Methods: 164 participants with chronic shoulder pain were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture at local points in combination with distal point; acupuncture at local points in combination with distal non-point; acupuncture at local non-points in combination with distal point or acupuncture at local non- points in combination with distal non- point for 12 treatments over 6 weeks.Measurements: Primary outcome was shoulder pain intensity(visual analogue scale, 0-100mm). Secondary outcomes included functions of shoulder joint(Constant-Murley score, 0-100 scores), health-related quality of life(Short form-36, which included two subscales physical health and mental health). Outcome measures were collected at baseline(before randomization), 6, 10 and 18 weeks after randomization.Results: There was no interaction between local points and distal points. Compared with no distal points, distal points were associated with improvement in pain intensity at 10(p= 0.024) and 18(p= 0.013) weeks. Distal points were better than no distal points at 6(p= 0.01), 10(p= 0.006) and 18(p= 0.01) weeks for shoulder functions. Distal points improved physical health at 10(p= 0.023) and 18(p= 0.015) weeks, and 18(p= 0.05) weeks for mental health. No statistically significant differences were observed between local points and no local points for all outcome measures.Conclusions: These findings show that acupuncturists can support acupuncture in adults with chronic shoulder pain, and distal point provides an effective method.