title: Acupuncture in patients with tension-type headache: randomised controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture compared with minimal acupuncture and with no acupuncture in patients with tension-type headache.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three armed randomised controlled multicentre trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  28 outpatient centres in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  270 patients (74% women, mean age 43 (SD 13) years) with episodic or chronic tension-type headache.
  
  
  METHODS
  Acupuncture, minimal acupuncture (superficial needling at non-acupuncture points), or waiting list control. Acupuncture and minimal acupuncture were administered by specialised physicians and consisted of 12 sessions per patient over eight weeks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Difference in numbers of days with headache between the four weeks before randomisation and weeks 9-12 after randomisation, as recorded by participants in headache diaries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of days with headache decreased by 7.2 (SD 6.5) days in the acupuncture group compared with 6.6 (SD 6.0) days in the minimal acupuncture group and 1.5 (SD 3.7) days in the waiting list group (difference: acupuncture v minimal acupuncture, 0.6 days, 95% confidence interval -1.5 to 2.6 days, P = 0.58; acupuncture v waiting list, 5.7 days, 3.9 to 7.5 days, P < 0.001). The proportion of responders (at least 50% reduction in days with headache) was 46% in the acupuncture group, 35% in the minimal acupuncture group, and 4% in the waiting list group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The acupuncture intervention investigated in this trial was more effective than no treatment but not significantly more effective than minimal acupuncture for the treatment of tension-type headache.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ISRCTN9737659.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, Department of Internal Medicine II, Technische Universität München, Kaiserstr 9, 80801 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Melchart
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Streng
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoppe
authors.forename: Benno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brinkhaus
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wagenpfeil
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pfaffenrath
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hammes
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hummelsberger
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Irnich
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weidenhammer
authors.forename: Stefan N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Willich
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Linde
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome