title: Clinical outcomes and patient perceptions of acupuncture and/or massage therapies in HIV-infected individuals.
abstract: 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 non-treatment subjects. All subjects had equal opportunity to access HAART therapies 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 experience was very positive. The reasons for these findings may be complex, including the possibility that some people may choose to manage their disease more aggressively, and may select a range of treatments. While no large claims are made for this study, these findings may be of interest both to clinicians and funders of acupuncture and/or massage therapies.
authors.affiliation: HIV Division, Northeast Valley Health Corporation, Panorama City, California 91402, USA. MHenrickson2002@yahoo.co.nz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henrickson
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D001835:Body Weight; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008405:Massage; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load