Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048-1865, USA.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:309762. doi: 10.1155/2012/309762. Epub 2011 Jun 22.
Purpose. To evaluate the acceptance and effectiveness of acupuncture in a hospital setting. Methods. This 18-month pragmatic randomized controlled trial used a two-tiered consent process for all patients admitted to the acute care unit by study physician groups. The primary study comparison was between those randomized (using biased-coin randomization after initial consent) to be offered acupuncture or not. The primary outcome was length of stay (LOS). Other measures include costs, self-reported anxiety, depression, health status, and patient satisfaction. Results. Of the 383 patients consented to the study, 253 were randomized to be offered acupuncture, and 130 were not offered acupuncture. Of those offered acupuncture, 173 (69%) accepted and received daily acupuncture. On average, patients offered acupuncture had longer LOSs (4.9 versus 4.1 days) than those not offered acupuncture (P = .047). Adjustment for diagnosis and severity mix reduced this difference and its significance (P = .108). No other significant differences in outcomes were found. Patients who were more anxious (P = .000) or depressed (P = .017) at admission tended to more often accept acupuncture when offered. Conclusion. Acupuncture is accepted by a majority of hospitalized acute care patients. However, it did not reduce LOS in this already short-stay population.
目的。评估医院环境中接受和使用针灸的情况。方法。这是一项为期 18 个月的实用随机对照试验，所有通过研究医生组入院的急性护理病房的患者均采用两级同意程序。主要研究比较是随机分配（在最初同意后使用偏置硬币随机化）接受或不接受针灸的患者。主要结局是住院时间（LOS）。其他措施包括成本、自我报告的焦虑、抑郁、健康状况和患者满意度。结果。在同意参加研究的 383 名患者中，有 253 名被随机分配接受针灸治疗，有 130 名未接受针灸治疗。在接受针灸治疗的患者中，173 名（69%）接受并接受了每日针灸治疗。平均而言，接受针灸治疗的患者的 LOS （4.9 天）比未接受针灸治疗的患者（4.1 天）长（P=.047）。调整诊断和严重程度混合后，这一差异及其意义（P=.108）有所降低。未发现其他结局存在显著差异。入院时更焦虑（P=.000）或抑郁（P=.017）的患者在接受针灸治疗时更倾向于接受针灸治疗。结论。大多数住院急性护理患者接受针灸治疗。然而，在这个已经短期住院的人群中，针灸并没有缩短 LOS。
