A randomized, controlled trial of acupuncture self-needling as maintenance therapy for cancer-related fatigue after therapist-delivered acupuncture

Molassiotis, A., Bardy, J., Finnegan-John, J., Mackereth, P., Ryder, W.D., Filshie, J., Ream, E., Eaton, D. and Richardson, A. (2013) A randomized, controlled trial of acupuncture self-needling as maintenance therapy for cancer-related fatigue after therapist-delivered acupuncture. Annals of Oncology. (doi:10.1093/annonc/mdt034). (PMID:23436910)

Abstract

Background
Maintenance acupuncture is advocated by clinicians after successful clinic-based acupuncture. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of maintenance acupuncture in the management of cancer-related fatigue (CRF); treatment delivered by therapists or self-acupuncture/self-needling was compared with no maintenance treatment.

Methods
Breast cancer patients who participated in a randomized trial of acupuncture for CRF management (reported elsewhere) were re-randomized to receive an additional four acupuncturist-delivered weekly sessions; four self-administered weekly acupuncture sessions (self-needling); or no acupuncture. Primary outcome was general fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory). Mood, quality of life and safety were also assessed.

Results
In total, 197 patients were re-randomized, with 65 to therapist-delivered sessions, 67 to self-acupuncture/self-needling and 65 to no further acupuncture. Primary outcome scores were equivalent between the therapist-delivered acupuncture and self-acupuncture (P > 0.05). A non-significant trend in improving fatigue was observed at the end of 4 weeks in the combined acupuncture arms (P = 0.07). There was no impact on mood or quality of life of the further acupuncture sessions at 18 weeks beyond the improvement observed in initial trial.

Conclusion
Self-acupuncture is an acceptable, feasible and safe maintenance treatment for patients with CRF. However, overall, maintenance acupuncture did not yield important improvements beyond those observed after an initial clinic-based course of acupuncture. Trial Registration number NCT00957112.

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Contributors

Author: A. Richardson

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