The Association between Acupuncture Therapies and Reduced Fracture Risk in Patients with Osteoarthritis: A Nationwide Retrospective Matched Cohort Study

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between acupuncture therapy and the risk of fracture in patient with osteoarthritis (OA). Design: The authors performed a 1:1 propensity score-matched cohort study to analyze patient with OA between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2010 through the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients who received acupuncture therapy from the initial date of diagnosis of OA to December 31, 2010 were included in the acupuncture cohort. Patients who did not receive acupuncture during the same follow-up period were defined as the no-Acupuncture cohort. A Cox regression model was used to adjust for sex, age, comorbidities, prescription, and surgical experiences. Hazard ratios (HRs) were compared between the two cohorts. Results: A total of 3416 patients were identified after 1:1 propensity score matching. The patients had similar basic characteristics. In the final analysis, 292 patients in the acupuncture cohort (30.06 per 1000 person-years) and 431 patients in the no-Acupuncture cohort (56.08 per 1000 person-years) developed fractures (adjusted HRs 0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.49-0.67). A reduced cumulative incidence of fracture was found in the acupuncture cohort (log-rank test, p < 0.001). The association between acupuncture and reducing the fracture incidence was independent of sex, comorbidities, drugs use, and surgical experiences. Conclusion: Their results revealed the association between acupuncture therapies and a reduced incidence of fracture development in patients with OA. This finding provides noteworthy ideas for further research.