The Nonpenetrating Telescopic Sham Needle May Blind Patients with Different Characteristics and Experiences When Treated by Several Therapists
Table 6
The ability to identify if verum or sham acupuncture was given in subgroups of patients with different characteristics.
Subgroup
Stated: Penetrating the skin1
Stated: Placed against the skin1
Not sure at all, guessed
Bang’s blinding index2 (95% Confidence interval)
value multivariate analysis3
Blinding, by gender
.760
Verum acupuncture (%)
Man
16 (89)
1 (6)
1 (6)
0.88 (0.66–1.11)
woman
58 (75)
5 (6)
14 (18)
0.69 (0.56–0.82)
Sham acupuncture (%)
man
11 (79)
1 (7)
2 (14)
−0.71 (1.02–−0.41)*
woman
57 (70)
10 (13)
14 (17)
−0.58 (−0.73–−0.43)
Blinding, by age
.357
Verum acupuncture (%)
19–40 years old
8 (89)
0 (0)
1 (11)
0.89 (0.68–1.09)
41–65 years old
33 (83)
2 (5)
5 (13)
0.78 (0.61–0.94)
66–91 years old
33 (72)
4 (8)
9 (18)
0.63 (0.44–0.81)
Sham acupuncture (%)
19–40 years old
6 (55)
2 (18)
3 (27)
−0.36 (−0.82–0.09)
41–65 years old
28 (74)
4 (11)
6 (16)
−0.63 (−0.84–−0.42)
66–91 years old
34 (74)
5 (11)
7 (15)
−0.63 (−0.82–−0.44)
1The individuals were fairly or entirely sure of their answer. 2Correct answers/total —incorrect answers/total . The number () of patients answering the questions is presented. Total of the entering 215 patients (18 interrupted radiotherapy and/or verum/sham acupuncture and 7 did not provide blinding data. 3Including the variables seen in Tables 4–6 and received needling type. *Statistically significant difference between the subgroups.