Activity 4: Complementary Health Approach

Name: VERAZON, JAYLORD B. Section: BSN-4B Date: March 21, 2022

Follow the instructions and provide responses for the following

1. Select a complementary health approach that you would like to know more about (for example, acupuncture,
chiropractic or homeopathy etc).
Name of the complementary health approach: Acupuncture

2. Search the internet for information about this practice (example description of that particular complementary
health approach).
Brief Description of the Complementary Health Approach: This is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that
uses needles to stimulate specific points around the body. The person who performs this therapy (an
acupuncturist) sticks thin, sterile needles into the skin. The goal is to help the body’s natural healing process
kick in. Studies show that acupuncture can be effective in treating a number of conditions, like neck and back
pain, nausea, anxiety, depression, insomnia, infertility, and more.

3. Search from the internet latest study about the complementary health approach that you selected.
Title of the Study: ACUPUNCTURE USE FOR PAIN AS COMPARED TO OTHER COMPLEMENTARY AND
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE AND CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE

4. Give the abstract or the summary of the findings of the study.

Summary of Findings:
The purpose of the study was to determine the factors associated with the use of acupuncture for pain and to
compare these factors to the use of other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and conventional
medical services. The treatment of pain is expensive. In addition, use of surgery and medication increases risk
of medical errors, complications, side effects and addiction. Clinical trials of acupuncture for pain have
demonstrated results at least as effective as conventional treatments with negligible side effects and
complications. Only 4% of the United States population has used acupuncture. The healthcare field is studying
means to predict health-related behaviors by identifying characteristics of patients. This study identifies those
characteristics that increase the likelihood of adoption of acupuncture for pain. A review of the literature
provided factors that were associated with use of acupuncture, CAM, and people with pain conditions. The
Behavioral Model of Health Services Use is a predictive framework that classifies factors as predisposing,
enabling and need variables. Data from the national probability sample 2002 National Health Information
Survey (NHIS) were used in the study. The NHIS 2002 consisted of 31,044 adults aged 18 and older residing in
the United States. The survey included a special section on CAM modalities including acupuncture. The
response rate for the survey was 74.3%. Survey respondents were classified as having pain conditions if they
reported having at least one of eight conditions within the past year. The pain sample size was 18,103.
Respondents were then categorized as acupuncture (n=257), other CAM (n=302) or conventional medicine
(n=6,812) users based on use of each service within the past year.
SPSS was used to obtain descriptive and inferential statistics. Differences in type of service were analyzed
using Chi-square for categorical data and ANOVA for continuous data. A multiple logistic regression model
was used to determine those factors predictive of acupuncture use as compared to conventional medicine.
The study found that predisposing factors that predicted use of acupuncture were being younger, Asian, and
having a higher level of education. Enabling factors were residing in the Eastern or Western regions of the
country, and exercising at a moderate level. Need factors were higher numbers of pain conditions, and having
functional limitations. The logistics regression model correctly identified 26.5% of acupuncture users and
 93.8% of conventional medicine users. To improve the predictive ability of the Behavioral Model additional
research is needed on beliefs and attitudes.

5. Discuss briefly the learning implication on the following areas:

(This is like the third level interpretation when you do your discussion in research.)

A. To the Nursing Discipline

The implications of acupuncture for nurses are that they should help promote stroke recovery by becoming
more knowledgeable about community options in order to provide greater support in accessing essential
post-stroke rehabilitation therapies.

B. To the Nursing Practice

Patients recognized distinctive elements of community acupuncture, such as access structures, processes
that make treatments more pleasant and effective, and holistic benefits such as physical improvements,
improved quality of life, and empowerment. Aspects of this strategy that allow patients to receive
acupuncture include the group setting, community-based venues, and cheap cost.

C. To the Nursing Education

Acupuncture is a component of Traditional Chinese Medicine that emphasizes a holistic energy-based

approach to the individual as opposed to a disease-oriented, diagnostic, and therapeutic methodology.
Acupuncture is becoming more popular among nurses as a treatment option. Acupuncture practitioners and
advocates in conventional healthcare This initiative characterized the lived experience of acupuncture
treatment, with explicit goals of informing nurses about people's experiences with acupuncture and
providing nurses with the vocabulary to express it. To patients the experience of receiving acupuncture; and
to generate opportunities for giving acupuncture as an educated treatment option in nursing and
healthcare.

D. To the Nursing Research

• The Immediate Analgesic Effect of Acupuncture for Pain

• Breakthroughs and advances in understanding factors thatpredict non-pharmacological
• Interventions for pain relief
• Acupuncture, which is a mainstay in the healthcare practices of traditional Chinese medicine, is commonly
used for the treatment of pain. There is substantial evidence for acupuncture being effective in the
treatment of acute and chronic pain. Systematic reviews examined the efficacy of acupuncture in the relief
of cancer-related pain, and both reported positive results. The systematic review and meta-analysis by Lu et
al. suggested that acupuncture was useful in decreasing postoperative pain. However, the efficacy of
acupuncture as a treatment of pain in other pain conditions such as neuropathic pain or fibromyalgia
remains inconclusive.