The Acupuncture on Hot Flushes Among Menopausal Women (ACUFLASH) study, a randomized controlled trial
- 1 May 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Menopause
- Vol. 16 (3), 484-493
- https://doi.org/10.1097/gme.0b013e31818c02ad
Abstract
This study compared the effectiveness of individualized acupuncture plus self-care versus self-care alone on hot flashes and health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women. This study involved a multicenter, pragmatic, randomized, controlled trial with two parallel arms. Participants were postmenopausal women experiencing, on average, seven or more hot flashes per 24 hours during seven consecutive days. The acupuncture group received 10 acupuncture treatment sessions and advice on self-care, and the control group received advice on self-care only. The frequency and severity (0-10 scale) of hot flashes were registered in a diary. Urine excretion of calcitonin gene-related peptide was assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in mean hot flash frequency from baseline to 12 weeks. The secondary endpoint was change in health-related quality of life measured by the Women's Health Questionnaire. Hot flash frequency decreased by 5.8 per 24 hours in the acupuncture group (n = 134) and 3.7 per 24 hours in the control group (n = 133), a difference of 2.1 (P Conclusions: Acupuncture plus self-care can contribute to a clinically relevant reduction in hot flashes and increased health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women.Keywords
This publication has 50 references indexed in Scilit:
- Sleep disturbance in menopauseMenopause, 2007
- Long-term impact of the women’s health initiative on HRTArchiv für Gynäkologie, 2007
- Nonhormonal Therapies for Menopausal Hot FlashesJAMA, 2006
- Centrally active nonhormonal hot flash therapiesThe American Journal of Medicine, 2005
- National Use of Postmenopausal Hormone TherapyJAMA, 2004
- Breast cancer and hormone-replacement therapy: the Million Women StudyThe Lancet, 2003
- Hot flushesThe Lancet, 2002
- Anticipations and experiences of menopause in a Danish female general population cohort born in 1936Archives of Women's Mental Health, 2002
- Risks and Benefits of Estrogen Plus Progestin in Healthy Postmenopausal Women: Principal Results From the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled TrialJAMA, 2002
- Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy: collaborative reanalysis of data from 51 epidemiological studies of 52 705 women with breast cancer and 108 411 women without breast cancerThe Lancet, 1997