Effects of acupuncture and massage therapy treatment for HIV-related neuropathy in low-income community health care clients

Over 100 HIV-positive clients receive free and subsidized acupuncture and massage therapy treatment through a community-based holistic healing center in San Francisco. Twenty-four were recruited for a four-month study investigating the effects of acupuncture and massage therapy on HIV-related neuropathy symptoms and quality of life. All participants had already been using acupuncture and massage therapy to treat their peripheral neuropathy and had anecdotally reported benefits. The purpose of this study was to record patients' experiences with both acupuncture and massage therapy treatments over 10 treatments administered over a 16-week period to measure if and to what extent these treatments affect neuropathy symptoms and quality of life. In this study, participants first completed an opening focus group interview, individual interview and health status survey to provide baseline measurements. Second, participants completed 10 treatments (five each of acupuncture and massage therapy) with brief health status questionnaires for each treatment. Third, participants completed an identical closing focus group interview, individual interview, and health status survey. This study will present quantitative findings from the opening and closing health status surveys and the 10 treatment questionnaires in order to determine if treatments showed measurable efficacy. Based on qualitative analysis presented elsewhere, clients reported marked improvement in their neuropathy symptoms especially due to the regularity and availability of low/no-cost treatments.