Claire M. Cassidy, Ph.D., designed and conducted the innovative “Patients’ Own Words” research project1 – an outcomes-based study of acupuncture. The following excerpts are taken from the follow-up article on her study – “Patients Point to What Makes Acupuncture Care Special”:2
In a previous issue of Meridians (Spring 1996), I reported statistical data from the 575 self-selected respondents to our 1995 patient survey conducted in six clinics and five states. In this article I report results from the analysis of over 460 handwritten patient reports that were also collected during that survey.
In these stories, patients wrote about their personal experience of acupuncture– experiences they couldn’t convey through multiple-choice questions in the statistical part of the survey. Several themes appeared again and again in their essays, for example: acupuncture helped them with more than their original complaint, it increased their energy, and it gave them a new and healing way of viewing life. This article looks at the shared themes and discusses the qualitative style of research–important to medical care–which reports on the quality of the patient’s experience.
In a survey of acupuncture users in six clinics nationwide,
91.5% reported “disappearance” or “improvement” of symptoms after acupuncture treatment.
84% said they see their MDs less.
79% said they use fewer prescription drugs.
70% of those to whom surgery had been recommended said they avoided it.
On average, respondents used 3.5 different forms of health care – acupuncture, MDs, psychotherapy, and so forth. Despite this multiple usage, 57% of respondents said their improvement “definitely” was due to acupuncture; 19.9% said it was “probably” acupuncture; 17.5% said “it was a combination of factors.”
Asked to “check the phrase that best describes your experience with acupuncture” and given the choice of ‘none,’ ‘a little,’ ‘some,’ ‘most of the time,’ patients responded:
76.2% said “I feel better” most of the time.
63.6% said “I can work better” most of the time.
58.2% said “I have more energy” most of the time.
63.8% said “I have less pain” most of the time.
71% said “I miss fewer work days” most of the time.
68% said “I get along better with others” most of the time.
Patients say that acupuncture care . . . .
relieves physical pain, releases/reveals painful emotions
decreases the intensity and duration of many symptoms
helps them reduce use of prescription drugs
helps them heal faster, as from surgery
protects users from “colds”
increases energy
makes them feel calm, peaceful . . . or “centered,” “balanced”
increases self-awareness
allows them to perform psychological tasks that were formerly too difficult, to “cope with stress”
makes them feel “connected” or “integrated” or “whole,” enhances a sensation they call “well-being”
