title: Acupuncture in Patients with Allergic Asthma: A Randomized Pragmatic Trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although the available evidence is insufficient, acupuncture is used in patients suffering from chronic asthma. The aim of this pragmatic study was to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in addition to routine care in patients with allergic asthma compared to treatment with routine care alone.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with allergic asthma were included in a randomized controlled trial and randomized to receive up to 15 acupuncture sessions over 3 months or to a control group receiving routine care alone. Patients who did not consent to randomization received acupuncture treatment for the first 3 months and were followed as a cohort. All trial patients were allowed to receive routine care in addition to study treatment. The primary endpoint was the asthma quality of life questionnaire (AQLQ, range: 1-7) at 3 months. Secondary endpoints included general health related to quality of life (Short-Form-36, SF-36, range 0-100). Outcome parameters were assessed at baseline and at 3 and 6 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,445 patients (mean age 43.8 [SD 13.5] years, 58.7% female) were randomized and included in the analysis (184 patients randomized to acupuncture and 173 to control, and 1,088 in the nonrandomized acupuncture group). In the randomized part, acupuncture was associated with an improvement in the AQLQ score compared to the control group (difference acupuncture vs. control group 0.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5-1.0]) as well as in the physical component scale and the mental component scale of the SF-36 (physical: 2.5 [1.0-4.0]; mental 4.0 [2.1-6.0]) after 3 months. Treatment success was maintained throughout 6 months. Patients not consenting to randomization showed similar improvements as the randomized acupuncture group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with allergic asthma, additional acupuncture treatment to routine care was associated with increased disease-specific and health-related quality of life compared to treatment with routine care alone.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Social Medicine , Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany .
authors.forename: Benno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brinkhaus
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Social Medicine , Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany .
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roll
authors.affiliation: 2 Department for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Universität Freiburg , Freiburg, Germany .
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jena
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Social Medicine , Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany .
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Icke
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Social Medicine , Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany .
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Social Medicine , Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany .
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Binting
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Social Medicine , Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany .
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lotz
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Social Medicine , Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany .
authors.forename: Stefan N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Willich
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Social Medicine , Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany .|3 Institute for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland .
authors.forename: Claudia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Witt
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: acupuncture; allergic asthma; comparative effectiveness research; complementary medicine; pragmatic trial; randomized controlled trial; routine care