CHRONIC NECK PAIN - A COMPARISON OF ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT AND PHYSIOTHERAPY

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture, as compared w ith physiotherapy, in the management of chronic neck pain. Design. Sev enty adult patients with non-inflammatory neck pain of >6 weeks durati on and with no abnormal neurology were: randomly assigned to receive e ither of the treatments. Thirty-Eve patients were included in each gro up. Outcome measures. Pain by visual analogue scale and neck pain ques tionnaire, improvement in range of movement of neck relative to baseli ne, and well-being (general health questionnaire). Measurements were r ecorded at the start of treatment, at 6 weeks and at 6 months. Results . Both treatment: groups improved in all criteria. Acupuncture was sli ghtly more effective in patients who had higher baseline pain scores. Conclusions. Both acupuncture and physiotherapy are effective forms of treatment. Since an untreated control group was not part of the study design, the magnitude of this improvement cannot be quantified.