Table 4

 Adverse event rates and relative risks associated with acupuncture treatment

No of patients reporting an adverse event over 3 months/total reportingCrude rate of patients reporting adverse events/1000 patients over 3 months (95% CI)Unadjusted relative risk OR (95% CI)Adjusted relative risk OR (95% CI)
The last column reports the odds ratios (ORs) for an adverse event from the logistic regression model after adjustment for age, sex, and the following covariates: number of treatments, whether patient had had acupuncture before, whether treatment was paid for by the NHS, whether patient had had contact with their GP or hospital specialist before or during the 3 month period, and practitioner’s duration of practice.
Absolute risk of reporting at least one direct adverse event
All patients682/6348107 (100 to 115)
Relative risk of reporting at least one direct adverse event
M v F121/1527 v 561/48210.65 (0.53 to 0.80)p<0.0010.62 (0.50 to 0.77)p<0.001
Age ⩾ = 40 v <40477/4869 v 194/14230.69 (0.58 to 0.82)p<0.0010.74 (0.61 to 0.89)p = 0.001
⩾6 v 1–5 treatments over 3 months315/1980 v 348/42292.11 (1.79 to 2.48)p<0.0011.92 (1.62 to 2.28)p<0.001
First time having acupuncturev had acupuncture before116/707 v 565/56221.76 (1.40 to 2.18)p<0.0011.48 (1.18 to 1.87)p = 0.001
Not paid for by NHSv paid for by NHS622/6034 v 53/2760.48 (0.35 to 0.66)p<0.0010.59 (0.43 to 0.82)p = 0.002
No contact with GP or specialistv contact with GP or specialist58/897 v 623/54280.53 (0.40 to 0.71)p<0.0010.66 (0.50 to 0.88)p = 0.005
In practice <2 years v ⩾2 years60/376 v 622/59721.63 (1.22 to 2.17)p<0.0011.44 (1.06 to 1.95)p = 0.019
Absolute risk of patients reporting an indirect adverse event
Symptoms worsening after following advice from acupuncturists about medication6/63480.9 (0.4 to 2.1)
Delayed conventional treatment2/63480.3 (0 to 1.1)