[Acupuncture in stroke].

In 1995 we reported that acupuncture treatment of stroke patients in the subacute stage resulted in added therapeutic benefit. The purpose of the present study was to determine, one year after discharge from the rehabilitation centre, whether the treatment continued to have effect. Initially, 45 stroke patients were included in the study; median 40 days post stroke. The patients were randomized into two groups; one acupuncture group and one control group, taking into considering the patients' sex and the actual site of the lesion. All subjects received an individually adapted, multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme. The acupuncture group received additional treatment with classical acupuncture for six weeks. The patients were thereafter given individual treatment at the rehabilitation centre and then under the primary health care service. 41 of the patients were available for further study one year after treatment ended; 21 patients from the acupuncture group and 20 from the control group. The results show that there was a significantly greater improvement in the acupuncture group than in the control group, both during the six-week treatment period, and even more so during the following year. These assessments were based on the Motor Assessment Scale, the Sunnaas Index of Daily Living (ADL), the Nottingham Health Profile and the patients' social circumstances.