Patients’ attitudes to the perioperative application of acupuncture: A Chinese survey

The primary purpose of this survey was to investigate the attitudes of patients undergoing elective surgery, towards the application of acupuncture to reduce perioperative complications, and to identify the possible factors that influenced their attitudes. The survey was conducted in the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. A 20-item questionnaire was developed and piloted over a period of eight weeks. 176 adult surgical inpatients completed the survey with a response rate of 98.9%. Only about one quarter of the participants had past experience of acupuncture treatment (n = 46, 26.1%) and one third thought acupuncture was effective (n = 61, 34.7%). Less than half of them were willing to use acupuncture for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) (n = 70, 39.8%), postoperative pain (n = 79, 44.9%), preoperative anxiety and insomnia (n = 65, 36.9%), postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction (n = 76, 43.2%), postoperative urinary retention (n = 81, 46.0%). Patients who were professionals or office workers (chi square = 26.181, p = 0.001) or with better education (chi square = 14.583, p = 0.024) were more willing to use acupuncture, while age or gender did not affect their attitudes. A majority of patients would follow the doctor’s advice about acupuncture (n = 111, 63.1%). Those who had history of PONV were less likely to receive acupuncture (chi square = 10.664, p = 0.005). Overall, the surveyed Chinese patients had limited experience and knowledge of acupuncture, and less than half had positive attitudes towards using acupuncture for reducing perioperative complications. Education of patients and their doctors may be promising strategies for improving patients’ willingness to use acupuncture.