Acupuncture in children and adolescents with bronchial asthma: A randomized controlled trial

Background: During rehabilitation children and adolescents with bronchial asthma suff er from physical and mental stress in spite of receiving their asthma medication, or demonstrate poor therapy compliance. The randomized controlled trial evaluates the eff ectiveness of acupuncture in the course of inpatient rehabilitation of children and adolescents with mild to severe persistent bronchial asthma. Patients and methods: In a longitudinal study design (pre-, post-, 4 month-follow-up) the eff ects of additional acupuncture on symptom frequency and severity, lung function, medication, quality of life (PAQLQ), general and asthma specific level of anxiety (STAIK) were examined in 43 acupuncture and 42 control patients. Apart from asthma sport, climate therapy and behavioral training, the acupuncture group was given acupuncture treatment according to a standardized needle pattern (12 × 30 min). Results: After acupuncture the frequency of morning breathlessness and inhalation difficulty decreased signifi-cantly (p < 0.05) with equal or reduced medication. Patients treated with acupuncture also showed a tendency towards reduced anxiety levels. Patients of the acupuncture group with moderately persistent asthma demonstrated an additional decline of workload-induced obstruction (FEV 1 Diff. %). Conclusion: Add-on acupuncture was able to achieve signifi cant improvements in lung function, especially in severe asthma, as well as a sustained reduction of anxiety scores.