Accessibility statement

Acupuncture for chronic pain and depression in primary care

The programme consists of a series of inter-related projects integral to the theme of the evaluation of acupuncture for chronic illness in primary care. First, we will conduct individual patient data meta-analyses for low back pain, neck pain, headache and osteoarthritis of the knee, conditions for which there are a sufficient number of recent high-quality acupuncture trials that have yet to be synthesised (Project 1). Second, we will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of acupuncture compared to usual care for low back pain, neck pain and headache using decision analytic modelling. In addition, as an exemplar, we will use direct and indirect comparisons with economic modelling to compare commonly used physical therapies, including acupuncture, for osteoarthritis of the knee (Project 2). We will explore ways to control for placebo effects in a small pilot study (Project 3). And finally, we will evaluate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of acupuncture compared to counselling and usual care alone for depression, because the evidence suggests more rigorous trials are warranted and we have already conducted a RCT pilot that shows promising results (Project 4).

Funding

Funder(s): National Institute For Health Research
Start Date: 01-Apr-2009
Expiry Date: 31-Mar-2014

Members

Internal staff

External collaborators

  • David Geddes
  • Mark Sculpher
  • N. Woolacott
  • Andrea Manca
  • Alex Sutton

Health Services Policy Research in the Department of Health Sciences