Exploring practice characteristics and research priorities of practitioners of traditional acupuncture in China and the EU—A survey

Abstract

The survey identified differences in practice and training between acupuncturists in China and the EU and between EU member states. These differences may inform prioritisation of health conditions for future trials. Innovative research methods are recommended to incorporate the complexity and plurality of acupuncture practice and theory. Creation of collaborative networks is crucial in overcoming these differences to facilitate international, multi-centre clinical trials.

Manual and Electrical Needle Stimulation in Acupuncture Research: Pitfalls and Challenges of Heterogeneity

“…28 Use of EA was reported by 39.7% of European acupuncturists (with pain as the most frequently treated condition) and 28.2% of Chinese practitioners (with neurologic conditions, mainly stroke, as most frequently treated). Because some European practitioners refer to the Voll electrodiagnosis system as EA, it is possible that this survey overestimates the number of European acupuncturists who practice traditional EA as defined in this paper.…”

Relevance of Western Medicine and TCM in the Chinese and European Markets: An Overview

“…Regulation of TCM by the People's Republic of China in 1982 affirms that the State protects, supports, and promotes the development of TCM, as well as its integration with WM (both types of medicine have equal importance, should complement each other, and improve through mutual learning and knowledge exchange). There is a TCM Department at the Ministry of Public Health, 6 and the responsibility of formulating all of the related regulations, policies, and guidelines are entrusted to the State Administration of TCM, which also has the task to build its standardized management and development. 7 TCM is fully covered under the government and private insurance schemes.…”

Acupuncture: How Might the Mechanisms of Treatment Have Contributed to the Diagnosis of “Patterns” and Pattern-based Treatments – Speculations on the Evolution of Acupuncture as a Therapy. Implications for Researchers

“…It can involve a number of different components and therapies [2], and may often be used alongside moxibustion as "acumoxa therapy", (zhenjiu in Chinese and shinkyu in Japanese), and is often practised with other historical methods such as cupping, bloodletting and modern methods such as electrical stimulation and intradermal needles [3][4][5][6]. Many practitioners use acupuncture alongside herbal medicine especially in countries like China and South Korea [7], but to a lesser degree in Europe and the US [8,9]. In Japan on the other hand, only medical doctors can prescribe herbal medicine; it is illegal for non-physician acupuncturists to prescribe herbal medicine [3].…”