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ActiPatch may help some patients with chronic pain
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ActiPatch — a low powered, shortwave, pulsed therapy device — may reduce pain and improve quality of life for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain, according to a recently published report.
Participants were recruited through Facebook, television or magazine ads, or word-of-mouth to engage in a 7-day trial of ActiPatch (BioElectronics Corporation), a device available over the counter in the European Union, but not in the United States. A total of 44,000 participants received the device, and 5,002 responded to an email assessment. According to the study, all participants were from the United Kingdom or Ireland.
Researchers found 31% of participants self-reported pain from osteoarthritis, 15% reported rheumatoid arthritis pain and 15% reported fibromyalgia pain. Other causes of pain included sports injury, surgery, tendonitis, neuropathy and other sources.
The device was used for back pain by 44% of respondents, for knee pain by 21% of respondents and for shoulder pain by 15% of respondents. An “other pain” group included use of the product on the wrist, elbow, foot or legs.
At baseline, the VAS for pain was 8.02 and 84% of participants reported the use of analgesic tablets, 20% received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, 32% used topical oils, 27% used heat wraps, 19% engaged in physical therapy and 10% employed other methods. Pain medications included NSAIDs by 48% and acetaminophen by 43% of patients, according to the study.
An average pain reduction of 57% was reported by 65% of respondents who had at least a 2-point improvement on the VAS. A steady decrease in effectiveness was observed with increased duration of pain. Participants with at least 20 years of pain reported a 50% average decrease in pain, while a 60% reduction was reported by participants with less than 2 years of pain.
Women reported higher baseline pain than men and greater pain relief following treatment (67% vs. 59%). After 1 day of treatment, 31% of participants reported a reduction in pain, an additional 31% reported improvement by day 2 and 19% of participants had improvements by day 3.
A 3-month follow-up was sent to 71% of respondents who expressed interest in purchasing the device. About 80% of participants purchased the device, which reportedly has a retail price of GB£19.99.
Long-term pain benefits were reported by 93% of respondents. Patients in the follow-up group had baseline pain of 8.34 compared with the overall cohort score of 8.21. At follow-up, the average pain score was 3.99 or a 51% reduction. A moderate to great improvement in quality of life was reported by 84% of respondents, according to the study. – by Shirley Pulawski
Disclosures: Rawe and Kotak are paid employees of BioElectronics Corporation and report no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
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