J Tradit Chin Med
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Does psychological testing help to predict the response to acupuncture or massage/relaxation therapy in patients presenting to a general neurology clinic with headache?
Patients with chronic headache were offered treatment by acupuncture or massage with relaxation instead of a change in their prescribed medication. They were randomly allocated to either treatment. ⋯ No psychological factors were found to predict response to either treatment. At the end of the study, 13% of patients were significantly more worried that there may be a more serious cause underlying their headache despite reassurance and an improvement in their headache scores.