title: Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine for survivors of torture and refugee trauma: a descriptive report.
abstract: Refugees with trauma histories are a difficult medical population to treat. Acupuncture care has gained acceptance in many mainstream hospitals in the United States, but research on acupuncture and refugee populations is limited. Herein, we report our experiences with 50 refugees (total acupuncture treatments = 425) at a major tertiary teaching hospital. Patients often reported extreme trauma including physical torture, rape and witnessing the same in family members. Patients represented 13 different countries, with about half the patients being Somali. The primary complaint of all patients was pain (100%). Using the Wong-Baker Faces Pain scale, 56% patients reported pain decreases. Patient acceptance of acupuncture was high. We provide three case histories as illustrative examples. Further research is warranted.
authors: Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Ellen.highfield@bmc.org
authors: Ellen Silver
authors: ES
authors: Highfield
authors: Puja
authors: P
authors: Lama
authors: Michael A
authors: MA
authors: Grodin
authors: Ted J
authors: TJ
authors: Kaptchuk
authors: Sondra S
authors: SS
authors: Crosby
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014104:Torture / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology