Acupuncture for low back pain - can it be taught in 2 days?

Abstract

Abstract: Background: A two-day course in acupuncture treatment for lower back pain was held in 2010 and 2012 for 39 Norwegian GPs. We wanted to investigate their opinions and attitudes to acupuncture treatment after participating in the course. Methods: The methods used are semi-qualitative; survey and in-depth interview. In the survey, we asked how many GPs had used acupuncture and investigated whether doctors had experienced a change in attitude towards acupuncture after participating in the course. In-depth interviews were used to elicit other phenomena that influenced opinions about acupuncture after participating in the course. Results: Survey: 14 of 25 GPs utilized acupuncture methods after participating in the course. A significant change in attitude to the statement "It is correct to describe acupuncture as alternative medicine" was registered with respondents being more in disagreement after the course (2-sided p-value of 0.03). Answers to other questions did not give significant results but a tended towards stronger acceptance of acupuncture. In-depth interviews: Unfortunately only two doctors could attend in-depth interviews. Both thought the course was enough to initiate use of acupuncture treatment for lower-back pain, but desired a more comprehensive course to increase their knowledge. Practical phenomena such as requiring separate treatment rooms and re-organizing patient appointments also influenced the use of acupuncture. Conclusion: This work highlights several factors that indicate a short course in acupuncture can introduce acupuncture as a treatment method which is then adopted in practice, and stimulate interest to acquire further knowledge despite some possible practical challenges.