PRO effectiveness assessment of acupuncture for cervical spondylosis and associativity analysis / 中华中医药杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) method was used to evaluate clinical effects of acupuncture for cervical spondysosis. Methods: With RCT method used, 162 cases were adopted, and 150 cases finished the whole course (treatment group: 76 cases, control group: 74 cases). Treatment group cases were treated by real-acupuncture while control group cases treated by sham-acupuncture. Northwick Park Pain Questionnaire(NPQ)was used as main outcome index, while SF-36 as secondary index. Both groups’ patients were evaluated before and after treatment course, plus one month and 3 months after the end of the treatment course. Results:Treatment group cases got lower NPQ Scores and higher mental health dimensions scores than the control group cases at any evaluation time-point. At the point of one month after the end of the treatment course, the treatment group cases got better social function scores than the control group cases. At the point of three months after the end of the treatment course, the treatment group cases got better body pain and energy scores than the control group cases. Multiple regression analysis showed that three dimensions of SF-36 (social function scores body pain and energy scores) had close relationship with NPQ scores. Conclusion: Acupuncture had satisfactory long-term effect for cervical spondylosis.