NEEDS ASSESSMENT / LECTURE DESCRIPTION

      The ultimate aim of medical research is to obtain useful, therapeutic knowledge. Double-blinded placebo-control studies have been the gold standard of modern research. However, we are discovering that this standard may not be appropriate within the context of acupuncture and potentially other non-pharmaceutical interventions. Recently, a number of double-blinded, sham controlled studies have been published examining the effect on pregnancy rates of acupuncture performed in conjunction with IVF.

      In this presentation we will discuss the main issues that plague current acupuncture research. In particular we will address issues of inappropriate placebo controls, blinding, intervention complexity, non-standardized outcome variables and variability in the skill level of those administering the acupuncture.