University of Southampton School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton, UK.
Complement Ther Med. 2011 Jun;19(3):144-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2011.03.004. Epub 2011 Apr 27.
Acupuncture is recommended in official UK guidelines for persistent non-specific low back pain and is popular with patients. However, what UK-based acupuncturists actually do in every day clinical practice is poorly documented. We therefore conducted a survey of every-day clinical practice of acupuncture for low back pain in the UK.
Cross-sectional postal survey.
Random samples of 100 acupuncturists from each of the three main UK societies for acupuncturists were sent questionnaires.
A questionnaire designed (and pilot-tested) for this study asked about: training and professional identity, current work situation, and typical approach to treating a patient with low back pain.
Completed questionnaires were received from 129 respondents (53% male), representing each society approximately equally. Work situation (e.g. weekly hours practicing acupuncture) differed across societies. Respondents reported needling 2-30 acupuncture points in an average treatment (median=8) and leaving needles in for 0-40 min (median=20 min). A large number of individual points (121) were named as 'typical'.
There is huge variation in how acupuncture is used by UK practitioners to treat people with low back pain. This probably constitutes a difficult situation for patients when selecting an acupuncturist. It may also translate into large variation in clinical outcomes for patients receiving care from different acupuncturists as well as difficulty in developing acupuncture protocols for pragmatic and other trials. Such diversity reflects the ongoing debate within the acupuncture profession about good practice for common conditions.
英国官方指南推荐针灸治疗持续性非特异性下腰痛，且患者对此疗法的接受度较高。然而，英国针灸师在日常临床实践中实际做了什么却记录甚少。因此，我们对英国针灸治疗腰痛的日常临床实践进行了调查。
横断面邮寄调查。
从英国三个主要针灸师协会中，每个协会随机抽取 100 名针灸师作为样本，向其发送问卷。
为本次研究设计（并进行预试验）的问卷询问了以下内容：培训和专业身份、当前工作情况，以及治疗腰痛患者的典型方法。
共收到 129 名（53%为男性）答卷者的有效问卷，每个协会的答卷者大致相当。工作情况（例如每周针灸治疗的时间）在各协会间存在差异。答卷者报告称，在一次治疗中针刺 2-30 个穴位（中位数=8），留针 0-40 分钟（中位数=20 分钟）。大量的穴位（121 个）被命名为“典型”。
英国从业者在治疗腰痛患者时使用针灸的方法差异巨大。这可能使患者在选择针灸师时感到困惑。对于接受不同针灸师治疗的患者，其临床结果也可能存在较大差异，并且也难以制定用于实用性和其他试验的针灸方案。这种多样性反映了针灸行业内部对常见疾病的良好实践的持续争论。
