Acupuncture for fibromyalgia in primary care: a randomised controlled trial

ObjectivesTo evaluate the efficacy of an individualised acupuncture protocol for patients with fibromyalgia.MethodsRandomised controlled multicentre trial, blinded to participants and to data analysts. Conducted in three primary care centres in southern Spain. A total of 164 participants aged over 17 years and diagnosed with fibromyalgia were enrolled in this trial; 153 participants completed the study. Participants were randomly assigned to either the real intervention (individualised acupuncture, IA) or the sham intervention (sham acupuncture, SA). In both the IA and SA groups, one session per week (lasting 20 min) was provided, in addition to usual pharmacological treatment. The primary outcome was change in pain intensity at 10 weeks.ResultsIntention-to-treat analysis revealed that the decrease in pain intensity at 10 weeks was greater (p=0.001) in the IA group (−41.0%, 95% CI −47.2% to −34.8%) than in the SA group (−27.1%, 95% CI −33.2% to −20.9%). During the follow-up period, significant differences (p