Effects of Acupuncture on Pain and Quality of Life of People Affected With Chronic Widespread Pain.

Background: Chronic Widespread Pain (CWP) is a multidimensional disorder for which treatment as yet remains unsatisfactory. Acupuncture is one of the most sought therapeutic methods when it comes to alternative medicine, due to its minimal adverse effects and its ease of use in clinical practice. Currently, acupuncture is successfully used in China for the treatment of many chronic diseases. The work to be carried out aims to assess the effects of acupuncture on pain management and quality of life of people suffering from CWP. Methods/design: The study is a single-center, controlled triple-blind prospective study. A total of 100 participants will be randomly distributed into two groups, the intervention group, which will receive an individualized acupuncture treatment; and control group, which will receive sham acupuncture. The treatments performed will be personalized and the treatment criteria will be based on the use of the Yuan and Luo points. They will be evaluated using a specific measurement system, constituted of the Visual Analogue Scale, The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and The Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale. The primary outcome measures assess whether acupuncture can bring about a decrease in pain and an improvement in the quality of life of people suffering from chronic widespread pain; the secondary outcomes assess whether the use of acupuncture leads to improved sleep quality. The results obtained will be analysed at 1st, 4th and 8th weeks from the start of treatment. Discussion: This technique is aimed to restore some of the imbalances suffered by patients affected with CWP and to improve their symptomatology. We expect to observe a significant improvement in the pain, quality of life and sleep quality of people affected with CWP. The study will be conducted according to the STRICTA guidelines, which lay down the right way to proceed when carrying out scientific studies in the field of acupuncture.