Acupuncture alleviates low back pain in seniors

Acupuncture helps improve chronic low back pain (CLBP) outcomes in older adults, as shown in a study.

A total of 800 individuals aged ≥65 years (mean age 73.6 years, 62 percent female) with nonspecific CLBP (with or without sciatica) persisting for at least 3 months participated in the study. These participants had to have pain-related interference (≥3 on the PEG scale [pain intensity, interference with enjoyment of life, and interference with general activity]).

The participants were randomly allocated to one of the following groups: (1) the group receiving standard acupuncture, (2) the group receiving enhanced acupuncture, or (3) the group receiving usual medical care alone (control). Standard acupuncture consisted of 8–15 treatment sessions over 12 weeks, whereas enhanced acupuncture involved the standard acupuncture plus 4–6 maintenance sessions over the next 12 weeks. Participants in the acupuncture groups also received usual medical care.

CLBP-related disability at 6 months was the primary outcome, measured using the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) score. Secondary outcomes included pain intensity and the percentage of participants with clinically meaningful (≥30 percent) improvements.

At 6 months, the acupuncture groups showed a greater change in RMDQ scores compared with the control group (standard vs control: adjusted mean difference, −1.0, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], −1.9 to −0.1; enhanced vs control: adjusted mean difference, −1.5, 95 percent CI, −2.5 to −0.6). No significant difference was seen between the standard and enhanced acupuncture groups.

The beneficial effect of acupuncture on pain-related disability persisted at 12 months.

Pain intensity also decreased with acupuncture at 6 months, with both interventions showing superiority over control. More participants in the acupuncture groups than in the control group achieved clinically improvements in RMDQ at 6 months (39.1 percent in the standard group, 43.8 percent in the enhanced group, and 29.4 percent in the control group).

The incidence of serious adverse events was low and similar across the intervention groups, with <1 percent of the events being possibly acupuncture-intervention related.