Friday, September 15 2006 15:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Acupuncture could provide cost-effective and long-lasting treatment for low back pain, one of the most common and difficult-to-treat medical problems in healthcare, says a study.

Acupuncture has become an accepted treatment for the condition in both the US and Europe. But clinical evidence of its effectiveness has been equivocal.

Hugh MacPherson at the University of York and other researchers studied 241 adults who had had non-specific low back pain for four to 52 weeks.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive either standard care or acupuncture, along with individualised treatment administered by a general practitioner. Standard care included medications, back exercises, and physiotherapy (such as massage therapy), reported the online edition of health magazine WebMD.

Pain levels were assessed at 12 and 24 months. Also, the researchers measured use of pain medication and patient satisfaction with treatment at three, 12, and 24 months.

At three months, patients in the acupuncture group were much more likely to report being "very satisfied" with their treatment than those who did not get the therapy.

And at 24 months, the acupuncture group was more likely to report less worry about their back pain and less use of pain drugs.

They were also more likely to report having no pain for at least a year, leading the authors to conclude that acupuncture provided long-lasting benefits, the researchers said.

"This was one of the most unexpected findings. Acupuncture definitely has a role in the treatment of low back pain," MacPherson said. "And it seems to be associated with longer-term effects than anyone has realised."

In a separate analysis, acupuncture was also found to be cost-effective compared with the usual treatment without acupuncture.