Year: 2015
Type: letter
Abstract: William Hay raises several issues related to our sham acupuncture design, including the lack of de qi sensation,1 the placement of the needle, and the lack of electrostimulation. The design and use of sham acupuncture have been debated extensively in the acupuncture literature.2 Our sham design sought to separate the nonspecific effects (ie, patient-provider contact, relaxation during resting, and patient expectations) from the specific effects of our electroacupuncture protocol (ie, de qi sensation, stimulation of specific painful areas, and use of electrostimulation). Hay suggested that our design could lead patients to perceive acupuncture differently. We argue that if the specific quality of the sensory stimulation in electroacupuncture affected patients' perceptions during the intervention and, as a result, modulated pain and other symptom distress (fatigue, anxiety, and depression), this was actually in the causal pathway of electroacupuncture's therapeutic effect and should not be controlled away. As we reported in our primary article3 and in this specific article,4 both electroacupuncture and sham acupuncture were perceived as credible (4.3 vs 4.0, P = .54), so we do not believe that electroacupuncture was perceived as more real than sham acupuncture by the participants. No specific funding was disclosed. The authors made no disclosures. Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Source: Cancer
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.29115
Author: Jun J. Mao
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Language: English
Topic: Head and Neck Cancer Studies
Subfield: Otorhinolaryngology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1492920680