Clinical Studies Database
Introduction
While a major thrust of research must be to carry out new and better designed clinical trials of acupuncture, it is just as important for the information within existing clinical studies of acupuncture to be made widely available in a format that can be easily accessed by different researchers.
The purpose of this database is to present the clinical studies that have been carried out on electroacupuncture (EA) and other nontraditional acupuncture-based interventions in a succinct and accessible form.
Making this material available will enable researchers to decide rapidly which studies merit further investigation, and which not. At the moment, without going directly to the studies themselves, this is virtually impossible. My hope is that this resource will act as a springboard to further research, speed up literature review, prevent needless duplication of the considerable effort that this entails, and lead to more effective treatment.
The material was gathered as the basis for a comprehensive descriptive review in Chapter 9 of the Electroacupuncture textbook.
The database concentrates on what conditions are treated, and on which acupoints and treatment parameters are used. Statistical detail is not usually included.
How to use this database
The material in this resource can be easily accessed in a variety of ways. While the default presentation is in sections that relate closely to those used in the Electroacupuncture textbook, flexible design means you can tailor your own searches to suit your needs.
While every attempt has been made to enter the available data completely and correctly, information from some studies has not been included in full, because of lack of time or resources. Studies of manual acupuncture (MA), for example, although included for comparison, may not be entered as fully as those on EA.
Further, while the default selections on different topics are reasonably complete, you may find other relevant studies by doing your own customised search.
Further details
Other abbreviations used:
- -ve negative
- +ve positive
- ADH antidiuretic hormone
- ADL activities of daily living
- ASIS anterior superior iliac spine
- BAP biologically active point (acupt)
- BFS biofrequency spectrum irradiation
- BMR basal metabolic rate
- CI cardiac index
- CVP central vein pressure
- GA general anaesthesia
- gp group
- im intramuscular
- iv intravenous
- LVSWI left ventricular stroke watt index
- MPQ McGill pain questionnaire
- n/a not applicable
- NCS nerve conduction study
- NHP Nottingham health profile
- PI pain intensity
- pnt patient
- POMS profile of mood states
- PPI present pain intensity (McGill)
- PR pain relief
- PRI pain rating index (McGill)
- pt or acupt acupoint
- REG rheoencephalogram
- RMS root mean square
- RCCM Research Council for Complementary Medicine
- RPP rhythm pinch pressure
- sc subcutaneous
- Schöber outcome measure used in studies of ankylosing spondylitis
- SI stroke index
- SLR straight leg raise
- SpO2 blood oxygen saturation
- STAI state-trait anxiety inventory
- SV stroke volume
- SVR surrounding vessel resistance
- UCT uncontrolled trial
Background information:
- The need for translation
- How the material was assembled
- Searching the material - potential tribulations of a data miner
Your feedback
Standards and approaches vary, inevitably, when many people work on a project with limited funding. Recruitment and training have generally been carried out by email, rather than in a group setting. Often it has not been possible to check work thoroughly, whether for linguistic reasons or due to pressure of time. There are thus no doubt many errors and omissions in the resultant database. Any feedback on these, or assistance in correcting them, would be most welcome.
Feedback can be addressed to:
info@electroacupunctureknowledge.com
The future
With some exceptions, studies have only been included up to the end of 2002 (2001 in the case of some journals). If the database as it stands is found to be a useful resource, then it should be maintained and updated regularly. It could also be broadened to include other types of acupuncture, and made more complete by including studies from Eastern Europe, Japan and Korea, for example.
It is my hope that the acupuncture community will take this on. It is a task too onerous for any one individual, and could be a vehicle to bring together practitioners from many different backgrounds.
System Requirements
To function properly, the computer utilising this database should support at least an 800x600 pixels screen resolution, 256 colors, 128 MB RAM and operate on the Windows 98, 2000, NT, ME, XP or Vista operating system or the Macintosh OS 10.2+ operating system. Additionally, before beginning, be sure the browser is JavaScript enabled, has cookies enabled and has the 'show images' checkbox enabled.
