Literature reviews on effectiveness of acupuncture
Mark Hanna made this Official Information request to Accident Compensation Corporation
The request was successful.
From: Mark Hanna
Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,
In response to an Official Information Act request from Kevin McCready in June (https://fyi.org.nz/request/1749-continue...), Mrs Koleti Vae'au wrote that:
"In 2011, ACC's research team conducted a literature review of the efficacy of acupuncture in the management of musculoskeletal pain. It found the most convincing evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture related to the treatment of chronic neck pain and the improvement of pain and mobility in chronic shoulder pain. In terms of other injuries, evidence of the benefits of acupuncture was either inconclusive or insufficient."
I have been unable to find this particular review by searching on the ACC website, although I have found other reports such as the "Effectiveness of acupuncture in selected mental health conditions" brief report from earlier this year.
Could you please provide me with copies of or links to all literature reviews regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for any condition undertaken by ACC. If a review has been superceded by a later review, I'd be happy to just see the latest review.
Also, if ACC has any guidelines for carrying out these reviews, could you please provide me with a copy of or link to these guidelines.
Sincerely,
Mark Hanna
From: Koleti Vae'au
Accident Compensation Corporation
Dear Mr Hanna,
Thank you for your request for information in the email below. Please find attached ACC's acknowledgment of your request.
Yours sincerely
Koleti Vae'au, Team Manager, Government Services, ACC Governance, Legal, Policy, and Research.
PO Box 242, Wellington 6140, www.acc.co.nz
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email unless it is really necessary. Thank you.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Hanna [mailto:[OIA #1891 email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 13 August 2014 9:54 p.m.
To: Information Website Mail
Subject: Official Information Act request - Literature reviews on effectiveness of acupuncture
Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,
In response to an Official Information Act request from Kevin McCready in June (https://fyi.org.nz/request/1749-continue...), Mrs Koleti Vae'au wrote that:
"In 2011, ACC's research team conducted a literature review of the efficacy of acupuncture in the management of musculoskeletal pain. It found the most convincing evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture related to the treatment of chronic neck pain and the improvement of pain and mobility in chronic shoulder pain. In terms of other injuries, evidence of the benefits of acupuncture was either inconclusive or insufficient."
I have been unable to find this particular review by searching on the ACC website, although I have found other reports such as the "Effectiveness of acupuncture in selected mental health conditions" brief report from earlier this year.
Could you please provide me with copies of or links to all literature reviews regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for any condition undertaken by ACC. If a review has been superceded by a later review, I'd be happy to just see the latest review.
Also, if ACC has any guidelines for carrying out these reviews, could you please provide me with a copy of or link to these guidelines.
Sincerely,
Mark Hanna
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an OIA request done via the FYI website.
Please do not send progress updates as PDF files.
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information.
If you believe you have received this email in error, please advise us immediately by
return email or telephone and then delete this email together with all attachments.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message
or any attachments or disclose the contents to any other person. "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hide quoted sections
From: Mark Hanna
Dear Koleti Vae'au,
Thank you for your message acknowledging my request. I'd like to clarify that, in addition to the 2 items identified in your response, I have also asked for:
"copies of or links to all literature reviews regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for any condition undertaken by ACC"
I am under the impression that the review regarding "The efficacy of acupuncture in the management of musculoskeletal pain" is not the only such review that has been conducted by ACC's research team. If this impression is false, I would be happy to be corrected. Otherwise, could you please also provide me with copies of or links to all other reviews as specified above.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Hanna
From: Claire Stearne
Accident Compensation Corporation
Claire Stearne, Acting Team Manager, ACC
ACC / Government Services / Justice Centre - Level 7
PO Box 242 / Wellington 6011 / New Zealand / [1]www.acc.co.nz
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email
unless it is really necessary. Thank you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information.
If you believe you have received this email in error, please advise us
immediately by
return email or telephone and then delete this email together with all
attachments.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorised to use or
copy this message
or any attachments or disclose the contents to any other person. "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. http://www.acc.co.nz/
hide quoted sections
From: Mark Hanna
Dear Koleti Vae'au,
I've become aware that the 2011 review of acupuncture in the management of musculoskeletal pain that I have asked for has been released publicly in response to another OIA request (https://fyi.org.nz/request/1800-inadequa...). As such, I no longer need to be provided with another copy of this review.
However, I am still interested in seeing any other reviews as mentioned in my original request, and in any guidelines ACC has for conducting these reviews.
For the benefit of anyone else viewing this request and looking for the 2011 review of acupuncture in the management of musculoskeletal pain, it can be found online here: https://fyi.org.nz/request/1800/response...
Yours sincerely,
Mark Hanna
From: Lisa White
Accident Compensation Corporation
Dear Mr Hanna
Please find attached a letter regarding your Official Information Act
request of 13 August 2014.
Kind regards
Lisa White,
Senior Advisor, Government Services
Justice Centre - Level 7 PO Box 242 / Wellington 6011
[1]www.acc.co.nz
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email
unless it is really necessary. Thank you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information.
If you believe you have received this email in error, please advise us
immediately by
return email or telephone and then delete this email together with all
attachments.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorised to use or
copy this message
or any attachments or disclose the contents to any other person. "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. http://www.acc.co.nz/
hide quoted sections
From: Mark Hanna
Dear Lisa White,
I have discovered by chance that the answer given to me in response to this OIA request was incorrect. I asked for "copies of or links to all literature reviews regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for any condition undertaken by ACC" and was told that "There are only two ACC literature reviews on the efficacy of acupuncture".
However, I have now discovered two more ACC literature reviews, undertaken in 2001 and 2006, that examined the efficacy of acupuncture, among other treatments, in managing soft tissue ankle injuries and traumatic brain injury respectively: http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
Although one of the reviews I was sent in response to my request included an evaluation of the evidence regarding the use of acupuncture in treating ankle injuries, and could therefore be considered to supercede the 2001 review, this is not the case with the 2006 review on traumatic brain injury.
In light of this, I would like to reiterate my request to be provided with copies of or links to all literature reviews regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for any condition undertaken by ACC. For the sake of clarity, I would like to be explicit that this includes both reviews that looked at several treatment options including acupuncture, and reviews that were commissioned by ACC as well as those directly undertaken by ACC.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Hanna
From: Mark Hanna
Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,
On the 17th of November I sent a followup message regarding my OIA request from earlier this year, regarding literature reviews on the effectiveness of acupuncture, to Lisa White, who was the last person with whom I had contact about this request.
It has now been 2 weeks and I have not received any response, even to acknowledge my message. I would appreciate it if you could please confirm whether or not my message from the 17th of November has been received. The message I sent was as follows:
I have discovered by chance that the answer given to me in response to this OIA request was incorrect. I asked for "copies of or links to all literature reviews regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for any condition undertaken by ACC" and was told that "There are only two ACC literature reviews on the efficacy of acupuncture".
However, I have now discovered two more ACC literature reviews, undertaken in 2001 and 2006, that examined the efficacy of acupuncture, among other treatments, in managing soft tissue ankle injuries and traumatic brain injury respectively:
http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
Although one of the reviews I was sent in response to my request included an evaluation of the evidence regarding the use of acupuncture in treating ankle injuries, and could therefore be considered to supercede the 2001 review, this is not the case with the 2006 review on traumatic brain injury.
In light of this, I would like to reiterate my request to be provided with copies of or links to all literature reviews regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for any condition undertaken by ACC. For the sake of clarity, I would like to be explicit that this includes both reviews that looked at several treatment options including acupuncture, and reviews that were commissioned by ACC as well as those directly undertaken by ACC.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Hanna
From: Mark Hanna
Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,
It has now been 3 weeks since I sent a followup message regarding this OIA request, and I still have not heard back even to have my message acknowledged. Please respond to this message, even if only with an acknowledgement that you have received it.
As the original response to my OIA request was untrue, and particularly as I feel I am waiting far too long for a response, if I do not hear back from you by Monday the 15th of December (which marks the deadline of 20 working days from my initial followup message on the 17th of November) I will be raising a complaint with the Ombudsman regarding the untrue information initially provided in your response to my OIA request, and your failure to respond to my request as soon as reasonably practicable.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Hanna
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Dear Mr Hanna, Please find attached ACC’s acknowledgment for your OIA
request.
Regards
Government Services
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please
advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this
email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any
attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Dear Mr Hanna, Please find attached ACC’s response to your OIA request.
Regards
Government Services
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please
advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this
email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any
attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."
Mark Hanna left an annotation ()
Considering that ACC received the followup to my original request, asking for copies of or links to all relevant reviews, on the 8th of December, it's very disappointing that they waited until 4 o'clock on the day of the deadline (20th of January) to send me this information.
I had requested copies of or links to all of ACC's literature reviews regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture in any condition. They did not send me copies of or links to any reviews. Instead, they sent me the name of one review and said it could be found online (without providing a link), and provided me with two links to pages on their website that listed large numbers of files to be downloaded, some of which are relevant to my request and many of which are not.
For anyone else following this request, as far as I can tell from the information provided by ACC, these appear to be the ACC reviews that examined acupuncture:
- Brief Report: Effectiveness of acupuncture in
selected mental health conditions http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
- Considered Judgement Form: Effectiveness of acupuncture in selected mental health conditions http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
- Distal Upper Limb: Guidelines for Management of Some Common Musculoskeletal Disorders http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
- New Zealand Acute Low Back Pain Guide (apparently superceded by more recent evidence but this appears to be ACC's latest guide on this topic?) http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
- Traumatic Brain Injury: Diagnosis, Acute Management and Rehabilitation http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
- The Diagnosis and Management of Soft Tissue Knee Injuries: Internal Derangements http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
- The Diagnosis and Management of Soft Tissue Shoulder Injuries and Related Disorders http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups...
This is the NZHTA review alluded to (but not linked to) in ACC's response:
- Effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment and rehabilitation of accident-related muskuloskeletal disorders: A systematic review of the literature http://www.otago.ac.nz/christchurch/otag...
Despite the response saying that "ACC does not hold any other information that has not been published", there is also an unpublished ACC review of acupuncture for musculoskeletal conditions which has been released under an OIA request and, to my knowledge, no where else. It can be found here:
- Pragmatic Evidence Based Review: The efficacy of acupuncture in the management of musculoskeletal pain https://fyi.org.nz/request/1800/response...
Mark Hanna left an annotation ()
I've written an article about the response to this request and its implications: http://honestuniverse.com/2015/01/20/acc...
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request
Mark Hanna left an annotation ()
For those interested, I have published the following articles regarding the information I have requested. The articles detail my criticisms of ACC's current policy regarding the funding of acupuncture and their treatment of the relevant evidence, and my recommendations for a solution to these problems:
http://honestuniverse.com/2014/08/26/acc...
http://honestuniverse.com/2014/09/04/acc...
Link to this