Acupuncture for infantile colic: A blinding-validated, randomized controlled multicentre trial in general practice

Figures & data

Figure 1. Trial flow chart: The ST36 infantile colic acupuncture trial.

Table I. Baseline characteristics: The ST36 infantile colic acupuncture trial.

	Acupuncture group (n = 44)	No treatment-control group (n = 40)
Sex-number of male/female	22/22	20/20
Mean age in weeks at inclusion (range)	6 (3–13)	6(3–9)
Mean gestation age in weeks at birth (range)	40 (36–42)	39 (36–42)
Mean birth weight in grams (range)	3590 (2580–4600)	3544 (2375–4410)
Feeding
Breast	28	23
Supplement	9	5
Both breast and supplement	7	12
Pre-study interventions
Chiropractic	6	5
Milk free diet in mother	4	2
Other (dimethichoner, herbal tea, malt extract, sugar water, massage)	9	7
Several different treatments tried	15	17
No pre-study treatments	10	9
Crying time	(n = 38)*	(n = 41)*
Baseline crying time in minutes (range)	220 (80–394)	212 (0–353)
Number of children with crying time ≥ 4 hours	12	17
Number of children with crying time < 4 hours	26	24

*The number of patients differ because of difference in numbers of interviews and reported crying diaries.

Figure 2. Plot diagram of changes in crying time: The ST36 infantile colic acupuncture trial.

Table II. Baseline-corrected mean overall difference in crying time reduction*: The ST36 infantile colic acupuncture trial.

	Total mean difference (minutes)	Sig.	95% Confidence Interval
			Lower	Upper
Acupuncture Group/ Control group	13.25	0.482	–23.99	50.50

*Linear mixed model - Estimates of fixed effects.

Table III. Minutes of crying per day and differences between the acupuncture and control group (mean and 95% CI) at measured intervals: The ST36 infantile colic acupuncture trial.

	Acupuncture group (n = 38)	Control group (n = 41)	Difference (Cl)	p-value
Baseline (mean of day 1 and 2)	220 (195,245)	212 (183,241)	8 (–29,46)	0.67
1st intervention day (day 3)	230 (180,281)	186 (142,230)	44 (–21,110)	0.18
2nd intervention day (day 4)	180 (128,232)	185 (131,239)	–5 (–79,68)	0.88
3rd intervention day (day 5)	129 (97,162)	167 (123,211)	–38 (–91,17)	0.17
1 day after intervention (day 6)	120 (94,145)	142 (106,179)	–22 (–67,21)	0.31
1 week after interveniton (day 12)	121 (79,164)*	120 (91,149)*	1 (–49,52)	0.95
4 weeks after intervention (day 33)	89 (55,123)*	97 (67,126)‘	–8 (–51,37)	0.74

*One diary in each group did not give data for day 12 and day 33. For these days the acupuncture group n  37, and the control group n  40.