SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Bridging the Pain Gap: Can Acupuncture Reduce Hospital-Level Disparities in Inpatient Cancer Pain Management?

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This study examined whether acupuncture could reduce hospital-level disparities in pain and symptom improvement among hospitalized cancer patients. It used secondary data from the PRACXIS randomized clinical trial (2019–2021), including 447 adults with cancer pain treated at a university hospital (n=338) and a public hospital (n=109). Patients were randomized in a 2x2 factorial design to acupuncture, pain counseling, both, or neither. Acupuncture was offered daily for up to 4 days, and outcomes were measured using patient-reported surveys.<br /><br />The analysis found that, without acupuncture, patients at the university hospital experienced significantly greater improvement in pain relief, symptom severity, and symptom burden than patients at the public hospital. However, when acupuncture was provided, patients at the public hospital showed better average daily improvement in these outcomes, and the differences between hospitals were no longer statistically significant.<br /><br />The public hospital population was more racially and linguistically diverse, with a higher proportion of non-English speakers and more metastatic cancer. These findings suggest that acupuncture may help narrow inequities in inpatient symptom improvement between university and public hospital settings.<br /><br />The authors conclude that acupuncture was associated with reduced disparities in patient-reported symptom improvement and may be a scalable integrative therapy worth broader implementation in hospitals. They also recommend future research to determine whether the observed improvements are clinically meaningful.

Asset Subtitle

George Simchun Yeung

Meta Tag

Author List Anand Dhruva, Donald Abrams, Frederick Hecht, George Simchun Yeung, Maria Chao, Sanjay Reddy, Wendy Hartogensis

Category Research

Concept Acupuncture

Concept Cancer Pain

Concept Inpatient Cancer Pain Management

Concept Randomized Controlled Trial

Concept Adjunctive Therapy

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Ucsf

Presenting Author George Simchun Yeung

Track Outcomes Research

Keywords

acupuncture

cancer pain

hospital disparities

symptom improvement

randomized clinical trial

inpatient oncology

patient-reported outcomes

pain relief

health equity

integrative therapy

Acupuncture

Cancer Pain

Inpatient Cancer Pain Management

Randomized Controlled Trial

Adjunctive Therapy