The Nonpenetrating Telescopic Sham Needle May Blind Patients with Different Characteristics and Experiences When Treated by Several Therapists

Table 3

Patients’ motives of their answers regarding blinding.

Motives of blinding statements, 𝑛	Treated with verum acupuncture			Treated with sham acupuncture
	𝑛=95			𝑛=95
	Stated: Penetrating the skin^1	Stated: Placed against the skin^1	Not sure at all, guessed	Stated: Penetrating the skin^1	Stated: Placed against the skin^1	Not sure at all, guessed
Felt or saw signs of penetration	44	2	4	29	0	6
Lack of feelings or signs of penetration	0	3	1	0	8	3
Felt effects or side-effects	2	0	0	1	0	0
Lack of effects or side-effects	0	0	0	0	0	0
Due to the design or the procedure of needling	1	0	0	3	0	0
Gave no motive^2	27	1	10	35	3	7

𝑛 (number) of patients is presented. ¹The individuals were fairly or entirely sure of their answer. ²Of these 37 patients in the verum and 45 patients in the sham acupuncture group, 7 in the verum and 13 in the sham acupuncture group gave no motive at all, while 30 in the verum and 32 in the sham acupuncture group answered “It just felt like that…” (“…the needle penetrated the skin”/“…the needle was placed against the skin”).