The following article found acupuncture or sham acupuncture worked equally well (sham acupuncture is randomly sticking needles in the body in no particular defined location). This indicates that the education and experience of the person performing acupuncture is irrelevant since a person without any acupuncture training at all can perform sham acupuncture.
Arch Intern Med. 2007 Sep 24;167(17):1892-8.
Erratum in:
Arch Intern Med. 2007 Oct 22;167(19):2072.
German Acupuncture Trials (GERAC) for chronic low back pain: randomized,
multicenter, blinded, parallel-group trial with 3 groups.
BACKGROUND: To our knowledge, verum acupuncture has never been directly compared
with sham acupuncture and guideline-based conventional therapy in patients with
chronic low back pain. METHODS: A patient- and observer-blinded randomized
controlled trial conducted in Germany involving 340 outpatient practices,
including 1162 patients aged 18 to 86 years (mean /- SD age, 50 /- 15 years)
with a history of chronic low back pain for a mean of 8 years. Patients underwent
ten 30-minute sessions, generally 2 sessions per week, of verum acupuncture (n =
387) according to principles of traditional Chinese medicine; sham acupuncture (n
= 387) consisting of superficial needling at nonacupuncture points; or
conventional therapy, a combination of drugs, physical therapy, and exercise (n =
388). Five additional sessions were offered to patients who had a partial
response to treatment (10%-50% reduction in pain intensity). Primary outcome was
response after 6 months, defined as 33% improvement or better on 3 pain-related
items on the Von Korff Chronic Pain Grade Scale questionnaire or 12% improvement
or better on the back-specific Hanover Functional Ability Questionnaire. Patients
who were unblinded or had recourse to other than permitted concomitant therapies
during follow-up were classified as nonresponders regardless of symptom
improvement. RESULTS: At 6 months, response rate was 47.6% in the verum
acupuncture group, 44.2% in the sham acupuncture group, and 27.4% in the
conventional therapy group. Differences among groups were as follows: verum vs
sham, 3.4% (95% confidence interval, -3.7% to 10.3%; P = .39); verum vs
conventional therapy, 20.2% (95% confidence interval, 13.4% to 26.7%; P < .001);
and sham vs conventional therapy, 16.8% (95% confidence interval, 10.1% to 23.4%;
P < .001. CONCLUSIONS: Low back pain improved after acupuncture treatment for at
least 6 months. Effectiveness of acupuncture, either verum or sham, was almost
twice that of conventional therapy.
