Key result
Acupuncture after hip fracture was associated with a lower risk of overall death (HR 0.41; 95% CI 0.24-0.73; p=0.002), readmission, and reoperation compared to matched controls.
Why the study?
Studies evaluating the effects of acupuncture on mortality and complications in hip fracture patients have been limited by small sample sizes and short follow-up.
Does acupuncture reduce mortality, readmission, and reoperation in hip fracture patients?
Cohort (n=1,168)
Does acupuncture reduce mortality, readmission, and reoperation in hip fracture patients?
Hazard Ratio: 0.41 (95% CI 0.24–0.73)
p-value: p=0.002
Postoperative acupuncture in hip fracture patients is associated with significantly lower mortality, readmission, and reoperation rates.
May support exploring acupuncture after hip fracture; hypothesis-generating and requires RCTs before practice change.
Background: Studies on the effects of acupuncture on mortality and complication rates in hip fracture patients are limited by small sample size and short follow-up time. We aimed to assess the associations of acupuncture use with mortality, readmission and reoperation rates in hip fracture patients using a longitudinal population-based database. Methods: A retrospective matched cohort study was conducted using data for the years 1996–2012 from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. Hip fracture patients were divided into an acupuncture group consisting of 292 subjects who received at least 6 acupuncture treatments within 183 days of hip fracture, and a propensity score matched “no acupuncture” group of 876 subjects who did not receive any acupuncture treatment and who functioned as controls. The two groups were compared using survival analysis and competing risk analysis. Results: Compared to non-treated subjects, subjects treated with acupuncture had a lower risk of overall death (hazard ratio (HR): 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.24–0.73, p = 0.002), a lower risk of readmission due to medical complications (subdistribution HR (sHR): 0.64, 95% CI: 0.44–0.93, p = 0.019) and a lower risk of reoperation due to surgical complications (sHR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.40–0.96, p = 0.034). Conclusion: This is the first study to suggest that postoperative acupuncture in hip fracture patients is associated with significantly lower mortality, readmission and reoperation rates compared with those of matched controls.
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Lin et al. (2020) conducted a cohort in Hip fracture (n=1,168). Acupuncture vs. No acupuncture was evaluated on Overall death (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.24-0.73, p=0.002). Acupuncture after hip fracture was associated with a lower risk of overall death (HR 0.41; 95% CI 0.24-0.73; p=0.002), readmission, and reoperation compared to matched controls.
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