Pragmatic combinations of acupuncture points for lateral epicondylalgia are unreliable in the physiotherapy setting

This study describes the reliability of pragmatic combinations of acupuncture points for lateral epicondylalgia as prescribed by physiotherapists who were experts in acupuncture. Raters (n=14; 33 to 59 years) independently prescribed acupuncture points for 30 simulated human patients with lateral epicondylalgia who were surveyed via a printed questionnaire. The frequency and cooccurrence of acupuncture points prescribed for patients with lateral epicondylitis were assessed. Absolute agreement and Light’s kappa (κLight) with 95%CI were used to quantify the interrater agreement. Raters prescribed 103 unique acupuncture points in different combinations with a median [min; max] of 5 [0; 11] acupuncture points. The most prescribed acupuncture point was LI-11 (297/420=71%), and the most common cooccurring acupuncture points were LI-11 and LI-4 (160/420=38%). The absolute agreement for prescribing the acupuncture points ranged from 70% (point GB-20) to 0% (points LI-10, SP-6, LI-11, GB-34, LI-12, and LI-4). Point LR-3 showed the highest interrater reliability for prescribing the acupuncture points (κLight=0.112, 95%CI=[0.055; 0.194]), whereas point LI-4 showed the lowest reliability (κLight=-0.003, 95%CI=[-0.024; 0.024]). These findings suggest that pragmatic prescriptions of acupuncture points for lateral epicondylalgia are unreliable among physiotherapists who are experts in acupuncture. Explicit, high-level evidence-based rules for prescribing and teaching combinations of ac...
Source: Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies - Category: Complementary Medicine Source Type: research