Expectation and experience of ‘nonspecific’ (whole person) feelings elicited by acupuncture: Content validity of a set of questionnaires

Nonspecific Feelings Expected and Experienced during or Immediately after Electroacupuncture: A Pilot Study in a Teaching Situation

BACKGROUND

Some feelings elicited by acupuncture-type interventions are "nonspecific", interpretable as resulting from the placebo effect, our own self-healing capacities-or, indeed, the flow of qi. Expectation is thought to contribute to these nonspecific effects. Here we describe the use of two innovative 20-item questionnaires (EXPre₂₀ and EXPost₂₀) in a teaching situation.

METHODS

Respondents were acupuncture students or practitioners on electroacupuncture (EA) training courses (N = 68). EXPre₂₀ and EXPost₂₀ questionnaires were completed before and after receiving individualised treatment administered by colleagues. Respondents were also asked about their prior experience of EA or transcutaneous electroacupuncture stimulation (TEAS).

RESULTS

Respondents expected significantly more items to change than not to change, but significantly fewer were experienced as changing. Increases in given questionnaire items were both expected and experienced significantly more often than decreases. "Tingling", "Relaxation", and "Relief" or "Warmth" were most often expected to increase or were experienced as such, and "Pain" and "Tension" to decrease or experienced as decreasing. Expectations of change or no change were confirmed more often than not, particularly for "Tingling" and "Tension". This was not the result of the personal respondent style. Cluster analysis suggested the existence of two primary feeling clusters, "Relaxation" and "Alertness".

CONCLUSIONS

Feelings experienced during or immediately after acupuncture-type interventions may depend both on prior experience and expectation.