Investigating the Palliative Effect of Acupuncture on Chronic Knee Pain and Quality of Life in the Elderly: A Systematic Review

Background: Chronic knee pain is a common complaint in elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis which can lead to muscle weakness, reduction of social activities, and life quality. Complementary and alternative therapies, including acupuncture, may be employed as adjuvant treatments. The purpose of this review study was to investigate the palliative effect of acupuncture on pain intensity and quality of life in the elderly with chronic knee pain.Method: We included randomized controlled trials of acupuncture that were used as the sole treatment or as an adjunctive treatment for Chronic knee pain, and published during ۲۰۱۲-۲۰۲۲ in PubMed, Google Scholar, and SID databases. To facilitate the search, by using the appropriate keywords, the terms “chronic knee pain, quality of life, acupuncture” were used. Articles were limited by an age filter of “aged ۶۵ and above” to focus on articles related to older adults. Then, by analyzing the full text of Persian and English articles, by applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria a total ۱۳ studies were selected and analyzed in this review.Results: In these reviewed studies, acupuncture was compared with no treatment, sham laser acupuncture (placebo), and standard care (oral therapy). The primary outcome was pain intensity measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) and index score pain subscale, secondary outcome was "quality of life" that measured by using a standard checklist. In ۱۱ studies the acupuncture groups showed an association with significantly reduced chronic knee pain and physical function improvement in short term (up to ۱۳ weeks) and long term (about ۶ months) ،investigating the effect of acupuncture on quality of life in ۹ out of ۱۱ articles also had acceptable results. Only ۲ articles considered the use of acupuncture to be ineffective due to the lack of significant differences between acupuncture and standard care in improving knee pain and function.Conclusions: The results indicate that acupuncture is an effective, safe, and acceptable method to improve functional mobility and quality of life and reduce patients' pain in short and long term. It seems this method is also a good alternative for painkillers in the elderly with chronic knee pain.

Keywords:

Acupuncture , Complementary Therapy , Chronic Knee Pain , Quality Of Life , Elderly.