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Background: In the U.S. approximately 1.6 million adults use complementary and alternative or integrative medicine therapy for pain and insomnia. However, very few studies have tested the use of auricular acupuncture (AA) using a standard protocol for participants with chronic pain and insomnia.
Objective: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of AA and to evaluate the effectiveness of AA on pain severity score, pain interference score, and insomnia over an 8-day study period.
Subjects: 45 participants who met the eligibility criteria and signed the consent were randomized to either the AA group (AAG) or the usual care control group (CG) on day 4.
Intervention: A standard AA protocol using penetrating semi-permanent acupuncture needles and in-place for up to four days.
Main Outcome Measures: Brief Pain Inventory pain severity and interference scores for pain and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) for insomnia.
Results: The use of the standard AA protocol in the AAG led to significant within- and between-group reduction in pain severity and interference scores when compared to the CG. Both groups showed within-group decrease in ISI. However, the AAG showed significant between-group reduction in ISI severity and from moderate to sub-threshold insomnia.
Conclusions: AA was found to show effectiveness in the treatment of chronic pain and insomnia. With a heightened focus on the opioid crisis in the U.S., this easy-to-administer protocol can be an option for treatment modality for military beneficiaries with chronic pain and insomnia.
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Inclusion criteria
military beneficiary - active duty, retiree, or dependents
between the ages of 18 - 65 years
fall under the care of LRMC footprint
self-report of insomnia based on established research criteria
sleep-onset latency (SOL) or wakefulness after sleep onset of ≥30 minutes;
NRS Pain rating ≥3 (mild to severe level)
pain for ≥3 months
able to read and understand English
for active duty military, an agreement of supervisor
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47 participants in 2 patient groups
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Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov
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