A cross-sectional analysis of patient characteristics, health conditions and patient experience at a Portuguese medical acupuncture teaching appointment

Background: Acupuncture is one of the most popular and most frequently used complementary medicines worldwide, with benefits for several health conditions when integrated into Western medical practice.

Objective: To perform a retrospective analysis of patient characteristics, health conditions and patient experience in a teaching medical acupuncture appointment at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra/Coimbra Hospital and University Centre.

Methods: 500 medical records between January 2010 and December 2015 were accessed and 324 were included. The characteristics examined include gender, age, health conditions treated, number of acupuncture needles used in each treatment, professional who referred the patient, type of stimulation, number of treatment sessions and patient experience regarding the degree of improvement at the end of treatment.

Results: Patients range from 13 to 92 years old, with most between 40 and 59 yo (40.7%). In total, 71.3% were female and 28.7% male. The most commonly treated health conditions were musculoskeletal symptoms (60.4%), nervous and headaches (18.2%) and orofacial (11.3%). The median number of appointments was 6 and the median needles used per treatment was 12. In 52.2% of consultations, electrostimulation was performed. The majority of patients were referred by physical and rehabilitative medicine and dentists. 85.3% of patients reported improvement at the end of the treatment, with those who performed more sessions presenting a higher improvement.

Conclusions: This pioneering study in Portugal presents similar results to other countries regarding patient characterization. The high success rate (85.3%) regarding patient improvement recommends the use of acupuncture as an effective complementary therapy.