[A clinical trial of acupuncture for treating chronic fatigue syndrome in Hong Kong].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in treating chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in Hong Kong.


METHODS
A single-blinded, randomized controlled trial design was adopted. Participants meeting inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to a treatment and a control group according to 1:1 ratio, resulting in an effective sample size of 99, with 50 and 49 patients in treatment and control group respectively. The same set of acupuncture points, which were selected according to traditional Chinese medicine theories, was applied in both groups, while conventional needle acupuncture was applied in treatment group and sham acupuncture (without skin penetration) was applied in control group. Schedule of treatment was the same in both groups, i.e. twice a week for 4 weeks. Key outcome measures were Chalder's Fatigue Scale, diagnostic criteria for CFS of the US's Centre for Disease Control and SF-12 health-related quality of life (HQOL) questionnaire. Adverse events, if any, were recorded.


RESULTS
Improvements in physical and mental fatigue and HQOL in both groups were observed, but the improvements in treatment group were significantly bigger than in control group (P<0.01 or P<0.05). No adverse events occurred.


CONCLUSIONS
Acupuncture is a safe, effective treatment for CFS.
Yiu
Yan-mun
YM
School of Chinese Medicine, University of Hong Kong, China. yoyo@hku.hk
Ng
Siu-man
SM
Tsui
Yin-ling
YL
Chan
Yat-lung
YL
D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D055815:Young Adult