title: Acupuncture versus sham acupuncture for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) afflicts 2%-10% of adult men. Available therapies offer little or no proven benefit. Because acupuncture represents an attractive "natural" therapy, we compared the efficacy of acupuncture to sham acupuncture for CP/CPPS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants met US National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus criteria for CP/CPPS, were aged > or = 20 years old, and had a total score > or = 15 on the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) and symptoms for at least 3 of the preceding 6 months. They were randomized 1:1 to acupuncture or sham acupuncture. Treatment consisted of twice-weekly 30-minute sessions for 10 weeks (20 sessions total) without needle stimulation, herbs, or adjuvants. The primary response criterion was a 6-point decrease from baseline to week 10 in NIH-CPSI total score (range 0-43).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-two (73%) of 44 participants responded in the acupuncture group compared with 21 (47%) of 45 sham group participants (relative risk 1.81, 95% confidence interval, 1.3-3.1, P = .02). Long-term responses 24 weeks after completing therapy without additional treatment occurred in 14 (32%) of 44 acupuncture group participants and in 6 (13%) of 45 sham group participants (relative risk 2.39, 95% confidence interval, 1.0-5.6, P = .04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After 10 weeks of treatment, acupuncture proved almost twice as likely as sham treatment to improve CP/CPPS symptoms. Participants receiving acupuncture were 2.4-fold more likely to experience long-term benefit than were participants receiving sham acupuncture.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Science, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Shaun Wen Huey
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Men Long
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Liong
authors.forename: Kah Hay
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Yuen
authors.forename: Wing Seng
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chee
authors.forename: Phaik Yeong
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Cheah
authors.forename: Weng Pho
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Choong
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Nurzalina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Wooi Long
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Choong
authors.forename: Hin Wai
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.forename: John N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Krieger
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome