Electroacupuncture Frequency-related Effects on Non-specific Low Back Pain in Older Adults.
Unknown statusNot applicableNCT03802045
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This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the most frequent complaint in the clinical practice. Electroacupuncture treatment may be effective, however, the evidence supporting this possibility is still limited, especially in older adults. Methods: A five-arm randomized controlled trial with patients and evaluators blinded to the group allocation. A total of 125 participants with non-specific low back pain will be randomly assigned into one of five groups: three electroacupuncture groups (low, high and alternating frequency), a control and a placebo group. The electroacupuncture will be applied twice a week (30 minutes per session) for 5 weeks. The primary clinical outcome will be pain intensity. The secondary outcomes include: quality of pain, physical functioning, perceived overall effect, emotional functionality, patient satisfaction and psychosocial factors. Patients will be evaluated before the first session, immediately after the last, and followed-up after 6 and 12 months to check the effects in the medium and long term. Discussion: Results of this trial will help clarify the therapeutic effect of different frequencies of electroacupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults and to determine the most effective electroacupuncture frequency.
Study details
- Official title
- Electroacupuncture Frequency-related Effects on Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults: Triple-blind, 12-month Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.
- Conditions
- Interventions
- Procedure: Electroacupuncture
- Device: Needle
- Device: Adhesive Moxa
- Sponsor
- University of Sao Paulo General Hospital
- Start date
- 2019-05-01
- Primary completion
- 2020-12-18
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 60 Years
- Healthy volunteers
- true
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- Brazil
- Total sites listed
- 2
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: * Over 60 years of age * Either gender * Diagnosis of nonspecific low back pain of more than 3 months duration, with or without radiating leg pain, with a minimum pain intensity score of 4 on the 11-point pain numerical rating scale (NRS - Brazilian Portuguese version) * Walk independently (with or without walking devices) * Agree to voluntarily participate in this study and sign the consent form. Exclusion Criteria: * Previous surgery on the spinal column * Have a known or suspected serious spinal pathology (e.g., cancer, vertebral fracture, spinal infection or cauda equina syndrome) * Fear of needles * Have participated in acupuncture treatment in the previous 30 days * Wheelchair users.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03802045