title: Strategies to maintain the credibility of sham acupuncture used as a control treatment in clinical trials.
abstract: Many clinical trials concerning acupuncture are flawed by methodological problems. One of the major difficulties is the appropriate selection and use of a placebo control. This article evaluates the use of sham acupuncture as a placebo control and analyzes its credibility as a control treatment. Sixty-four subjects were assessed for their perception of whether they were receiving sham or real acupuncture while participating in a clinical trial of acupuncture. It was found that if used under specific experimental conditions, sham acupuncture can function as a credible control. Specific strategies are suggested to maintain the credibility of sham acupuncture as a placebo control.
authors.affiliation: College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Department of Health Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zaslawski
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garvey
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: C X
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010919:Placebos; D012107:Research Design; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos