E1 ReplicatedPreliminaryPEM not requiredRCTPeer-reviewedMachine draft
Acupuncture for chronic fatigue syndrome and idiopathic chronic fatigue: a multicenter, nonblinded, randomized controlled trial.
Kim, Jung-Eun, Seo, Byung-Kwan, Choi, Jin-Bong et al. · Trials · 2015 · DOI
Quick Summary
This study tested whether acupuncture—a traditional practice involving thin needles inserted into the skin—could help people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and related fatigue conditions. Researchers divided 150 patients into three groups: two received different types of acupuncture for 4 weeks along with their usual care, while one group continued usual care alone. The acupuncture groups showed some improvements in fatigue, stress, and pain compared to the usual care group.
Why It Matters
ME/CFS patients have limited treatment options and often seek complementary therapies; this study provides controlled evidence that acupuncture may reduce fatigue severity and improve stress and pain outcomes. Understanding accessible adjunctive treatments is important for patient-centered care, particularly when standard medical interventions remain ineffective.
Observed Findings
- Body acupuncture significantly reduced Fatigue Severity Scale scores compared to usual care alone at 5 weeks (P=0.023).
- Both acupuncture groups showed significantly lower stress response scores at 5 weeks (Group A P=0.032; Group B P<0.001) and 13 weeks (Group A P=0.037; Group B P<0.001).
- Both acupuncture groups significantly reduced pain (numeric rating scale) at 5 weeks (P<0.001) and 13 weeks (Group A P=0.011; Group B P=0.002).
- Sa-am acupuncture significantly reduced depression scores at 13 weeks compared to usual care (P=0.007).
Inferred Conclusions
- Body acupuncture added to usual care may help improve fatigue symptoms in CFS and ICF patients over a 4-week treatment period.
- Acupuncture appears to reduce stress-related symptoms and pain in CFS/ICF patients, effects that persist at least 13 weeks after treatment begins.
- Sa-am acupuncture may have additional benefits for mood-related symptoms in this population.
Remaining Questions
- What is the mechanism by which acupuncture reduces fatigue—is it placebo effect, physiological effect, or both—and can this be separated with blinded methodology?
- How do treatment effects compare in more severely affected ME/CFS patients, particularly those with post-exertional malaise?
What This Study Does Not Prove
This study does not establish that acupuncture is an effective standalone treatment or clarifies the biological mechanism by which it might work in ME/CFS. The non-blinded design introduces placebo bias and social desirability effects, and the study does not distinguish treatment effects from expectation; results may not generalize to ME/CFS populations outside East Asia or to more severely affected patients.
Tags
Symptom:PainFatigue
Method Flag:PEM Not DefinedWeak Case DefinitionMixed Cohort
Metadata
- DOI
- 10.1186/s13063-015-0857-0
- PMID
- 26211002
- Review status
- Machine draft
- Evidence level
- Replicated human evidence from multiple independent studies
- Last updated
- 8 April 2026
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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