Acupuncture to Treat Primary Dysmenorrhea in Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Table 2

Primary study outcomes by treatment group.

Menstrual outcomes	Acupuncture group, 𝑛=46	Control group, 𝑛=46	Unadjusted treatment effect (95% CI)	Unadjusted P-value	Adjusted treatment effect (95% CI)	Adjusted P-value
3 months
Pain intensity^a
Day 1	4.9 (3.2)	4.9 (2.8)	−0.1 (−1.2 to 1.0)	.90	−0.2 (−1.3 to 0.9)	.68
Day 2	3.5 (3.0)	4.0 (2.8)	−0.6 (−1.7 to 0.5)	.28	−0.8 (−1.9 to 0.3)	.17
Day 3	2.0 (2.5)	2.6 (2.7)	−0.6 (−1.7 to 0.5)	.32	−0.7 (−1.8 to 0.4)	.21
Other menstrual symptoms	32 (78.0)	36 (81.8)	0.93 (0.76, 1.15)	.53	0.93 (0.75 to 1.15)	.49
Duration of pain (hours)^a	31.5 (24.8)	32.9 (19.9)	−1.6 (−10.4 to 7.2)	.72	−2.5 (−11.3 to 6.4)	.59
Need for additional analgesia	26 (63.4)	27 (61.4)	1.01 (0.73 to 1.40)	.96	1.05 (0.76 to 1.44)	.77
6 months
Pain intensity^a
Day 1	4.9 (3.0)	5.0 (2.5)	−0.3 (−1.4 to 0.9)	.67	−0.4 (−1.6 to 0.7)	.47
Day 2	3.8 (3.1)	4.6 (2.7)	−0.9 (−2.1 to 0.2)	.11	−1.1 (−2.3 to 0.0)	.06
Day 3	2.2 (3.0)	2.8 (2.7)	−0.7 (−1.9 to 0.4)	.20	−0.9 (−2.1 to 0.2)	.11
Other menstrual symptoms	28 (75.7)	32 (82.1)	0.93 (0.74 to 1.17)	.53	0.92 (0.74 to 1.15)	.48
Duration of pain (hours)^a	30.7 (20.9)	39.2 (18.2)	−8.5 (−17.7 to 0.7)	.07	−9.6 (−18.9 to –0.3)	.04
Need for additional analgesia	20 (54.1)	32 (82.1)	0.66 (0.47 to 0.92)	.01	0.69 (0.49 to 0.96)	.03
12 months
Pain intensity^a
Day 1	5.4 (2.7)	4.6 (2.5)	0.8 (−0.3 to 1.9)	.18	0.6 (−0.5 to 1.7)	.29
Day 2	4.8 (2.9)	4.0 (2.4)	0.7 (−0.4 to 1.8)	.20	0.5 (−0.6 to 1.6)	.33
Day 3	2.6 (2.7)	2.8 (2.4)	−0.1 (−1.2 to 1.0)	.81	−0.3 (−1.4 to 0.8)	.60
Other menstrual symptoms	34 (81.0)	40 (95.2)	0.87 (0.75 to 1.02)	.08	0.87 (0.74 to 1.02)	.08
Duration of pain (hours)^a	38.3 (21.3)	38.2 (21.3)	−1.1 (−9.9 to 7.7)	.81	−2.3 (−11.2 to 6.6)	.62
Need for additional analgesia	34 (81.0)	30 (71.4)	1.13 (0.89 to 1.44)	.31	1.17 (0.92 to 1.47)	.19

Values are number (%) of women.
^aValues are mean (SD).