Bethesda, Md. (WDNews) — A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that acupuncture may provide safe and effective relief for older adults suffering from chronic low back pain.
According to researchers, participants who received acupuncture treatments showed greater improvement in physical function and reported less pain compared to those who received standard medical care, which typically includes medications.
Chronic low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and affects more than one-third of older adults in the United States. Experts say there is an urgent need for safe, non-addictive pain management options.
“Of the different treatments we have for chronic low back pain, most have a somewhat modest effect,” lead author Lynn L. DeBar, Ph.D., a Kaiser Permanente distinguished investigator. said. “Our clinical results suggest that acupuncture is working as well as many things that are more familiar to people. We found that the size of this effect, while modest, was positive and sustained.”
The clinical trial, called BackInAction, enrolled 800 participants aged 65 and older with at least three months of documented back pain. A portion of participants received up to 15 acupuncture treatments over three months, while others continued with additional maintenance sessions.
At six and 12-month follow-ups, those who received acupuncture reported reduced pain disability, improved physical function, and lower levels of anxiety compared to participants receiving standard care. Researchers also noted few adverse effects among participants.
“What sets the BackInAction study apart is that it focused specifically on adults 65 years of age and older, and it was pragmatically designed,” DeBar said. “We worked hard to involve adults in multiple regions of the country so that participant demographics were consistent with the U.S. census for older adults—and we worked with licensed acupuncturists in the community, who are most likely to deliver these services.”
Study authors suggested expanding access to acupuncture for older adults, including the possibility of allowing practitioners to bill Medicare directly.
“We saw very little in the way of adverse effects during the clinical trial,” co-lead researcher Andrea J. Cook, Ph.D., a Kaiser Permanente senior biostatistics investigator, said. “Older adults often are dealing with other medical problems in addition to back pain. Acupuncture offers a less invasive option that has a better safety profile than a lot of the common treatments for back pain in older adults.”
