Safety of Acupuncture Treatments for Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults

Acupuncture, along with other complementary and integrative treatments, is commonly used as a complementary or integrative therapy when treating a multitude of pain complaints, including chronic low back pain(CLBP). It has been practiced as a non-pharmacological therapy in the United States over one hundred years. Integrative pain management pilot programs have demonstrated impressive reductions in medications use, emergency room visits, and annual costs of healthcare. In fact, CLBP is one of the most common conditions treated in an acupuncturist\'s daily schedule. Based on acupuncturists\' practice, CLBP has accounted for about 12% of patient visits in recent years. Most CLBP patients who come to acupuncturists\' clinic are older adults. Investigators will retrospectively check the safety of acupuncture, i.e.side effects or adverse effects of acupuncture during treatments of CLBP in older adults in past 5 years.