People with back pain who have low expectations from acupuncture before they start a course of treatment gain less benefit than those who believe it will work, according to a new research.
Researchers from the University of Southampton also found that people who have a positive view of back pain and who feel in control of their condition experience less back-related disability over the course of acupuncture treatment.
The University of Southampton's Dr Felicity Bishop carried out the research to find out why some people with back pain gain more benefit from acupuncture than others.
"The analysis showed that psychological factors were consistently associated with back-related disability," said Bishop.
"People who started out with very low expectations of acupuncture - who thought it probably would not help them - were more likely to report less benefit as treatment went on.
"When individual patients came to see their back pain more positively they went on to experience less back-related disability.
"In particular, they experienced less disability over the course of treatment when they came to see their back pain as more controllable, when they felt they had better understanding of their back pain, when they felt better able to cope with it, were less emotional about it, and when they felt their back pain was going to have less of an impact on their lives," Bishop said.
Previous research has established that factors - other than the insertion of needles - play a part in the effectiveness of acupuncture, such as the relationship that the patient develops with the acupuncturist and the patient's belief about acupuncture.
For the study, Bishop recruited 485 people who were being treated by acupuncturists. They completed questionnaires before they started treatment, then two weeks, three months and six months later.
The questionnaires measured psychological factors, clinical and demographic characteristics and back-related disability.
Bishop added that to improve the effectiveness of treatment, acupuncturists should consider helping patients to think more positively about their back pain as part of their consultations.
The findings of the study are published in The Journal of Clinical Pain.
