Trial reportPain medicine (Malden, Mass.)2025
Auricular point acupressure for older adults with chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Management of Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults Using Auricular Point Acupressure
Efficacy of Electroacupuncture Combined With Auricular Acupressure in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain Due to Lumbar Spondylosis With Kidney Yin Deficiency Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment of Pain in Older Adults Undergoing Auricular Point Acupressure for Chronic Low Back Pain: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2026Trial
- Effects of auricular point acupressure on inflammatory signaling in chronic low back pain: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Trial
- Article
- Adapting a Smartphone-Based Auricular Point Acupressure Self-Management Program for Rural Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Qualitative Study.Health services insights · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of acupressure at different ear acupoints on Insomnia: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Sleep medicine: X · 2025Article
- Baseline predictors of responders to auricular point acupressure in chronic low back pain.Clinical traditional medicine and pharmacology · 2025Article
- Pain Phenotyping Indicators in Older Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Sustainability of a Non-pharmacological, Self-Managed Intervention for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: 3-group Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.Research square · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveEfficacious modalities are limited in chronic low back pain (cLBP). We determined the efficacy of auricular point acupressure (APA) in older adults with cLBP.
design3-arm randomized controlled trial.
settingBaltimore, Maryland.
participantsParticipants, ≥60 years with cLBP, were randomized (1:1:1) to APA with ear points targeted to cLBP (T-APA, n = 92), points nontargeted to cLBP (NT-APA, n = 91), or waitlist education control (n = 89), and followed up to 6 months (6M). Participants in the APA groups received 4 weekly APA sessions; the education control group received 4 weekly educational sessions.
interventionAPA. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Primary outcomes were pain (Numerical Rating Scale) and function (Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire).
resultsThere were 272 participants (174 women [64%]; mean [SD] age 70.0 [6.95] years; 62% non-White). Compared to control, the T-APA group had significant improvement on pain from baseline to postintervention and 1-month (1M) follow-up by 1.73 and 1.26 points (P ≤ .001) respectively. The NT-APA group achieved similar improvements in pain. The improvement in function by T-APA and NT-APA was significant at postintervention by 1.89 and 2.68 points (P = .04 and .004) respectively, minimal at 1M follow-up, but significant at 6M in both APA groups. There were no statistically significant differences in treatment responses between the APA groups. Both APA groups had higher responder rates in pain and function at postintervention and 1M follow-up compared to the control group (odds ratio ranged from 2.11 to 6.32). The APA effects were sustained at 6M follow-up.
conclusionsAPA treatments significantly improved pain and function compared to control; effects were sustained at 6M. APA should be recommended as a nonpharmacologic therapy for older adults with cLBP. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Trial registry: Clinicaltrials.gov; Trial ID: NCT03589703; URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT03589703.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.