Acupressure for chronic low back pain: a single system study.
Angela Adams, Joseph Eschman, Weiqing Ge
PMID 28878474WHAT IT FOUND
In one man with chronic low back pain, adding acupressure to physical therapy coincided with lower pain, better function, and a disability score of 0%, but physical therapy alone also changed scores and this design cannot show acupressure caused it.
Key findings
01After acupressure was added to physical therapy, the participant's pain score fell from 38.8 mm to 2.5 mm on the 100-mm VAS, his leaning-forward function score rose from 5/10 to 9/10, and his disability score fell from 30% to 0%.
02During the physical therapy-only phase, pain fell from 38.8 mm to 11.3 mm, disability fell from 30% to 14%, and leaning-forward function stayed at 5/10.
03The participant received acupressure in clinic, a home self-acupressure program, and physical therapy including stretching, strengthening, ultrasound, treadmill walking, and mechanical traction, so the contribution of acupressure alone cannot be separated.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only one participant, so it cannot show what would happen in other people. The participant was recruited by convenience sampling, and the authors state this threatens validity and generalizability. Acupressure was added to several physical therapy treatments at once, including stretching, strengthening, ultrasound, treadmill walking, and mechanical traction, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The participant also had a home self-acupressure program, which adds another possible contributor to the changes. The study used a single-system AB design with three sessions over 2 weeks, so it did not show what happened after those sessions. The paper does not name a primary outcome.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that acupressure caused the improvement. The participant received acupressure together with physical therapy and a self-acupressure home program, and pain and disability scores also changed during the physical therapy-only phase.