Clinical outcomes and patient perceptions of acupuncture and/or massage therapies in HIV-infected individuals

This paper uses an innovative methodology to evaluate clinical outcomes and patient perceptions of acupuncture and massage therapies in an HIV medical outpatient setting. Using a quasi-experimental retrospective case control design, treatment subjects were matched by intake date and CD4 count with n on-treatment subjects. All subjects had equal opportunity to access HAART t herapies and other standard treatments for HIV. There were three treatment groups: acupuncture-only (n = 8), massage-only (n = 34) and acupuncture-and -massage (n = 21). Pre-treatment and post-treatment measures were compared within groups, and treatment and non-treatment group clinical outcomes were compared with each other. Using nonparametric statistical analysis, it was found that the means of the treatment groups' differences in pre- and post -CD4 counts showed improvement when compared with the non-treatment control group's pre- and post-CD4 counts. Treatment subjects were then interviewed and asked to rate their experiences of the therapies; the subjective exper ience was very positive. The reasons for these findings may be complex, inc luding the possibility that some people may choose to manage their disease more aggressively, and may select a range of treatments. While no large cla ims are made for this study, these findings may be of interest both to clin icians and funders of acupuncture and/or massage therapies.