The York acupuncture safety study: prospective survey of 34 000 treatments by traditional acupuncturists

Abstract
The study involved a prospective postal audit of treatments undertaken during a four week period in 2000. All 1848 professional acupuncturists who were members of the British Acupuncture Council and were practising in the United Kingdom were invited to record details of adverse events and mild transient reactions after treatment. Standardised self report forms were used. Participating practitioners also provided information on themselves, including age, sex, length of training, and years of practice. To have a 95% probability that no serious event occurs in n treatments, a survey sample size needs to be three times n.4 On this basis, a sample of 30 000 treatments was sought. Piloting indicated that a four week period was needed.