Acupuncure has been around for as long as medicine has been an active part of the human race. Acupuncture is an ancient form of alternative medication and a major component of conventional Chinese medicine where thin, sterile needles are inserted directly into the human body. However, acupuncture is no longer considered to be a legitimate science, instead, it is commonly regarded as an alternative and is widely considered as a type of religion by many westerners. However, there have been proponents of acupuncture for many centuries. There are many accounts of how acupuncture can treat illness and even the vivisector can be seen as a precursor to curing the patient. The early Chinese medical records show that the acupuncturist was regarded as a major healer and was closely associated with the emperor.
Acupuncture in the West
In the early years in the United States there were reports of the relief from the symptoms of nausea and chronic pain by patients who visited an acupuncturist. However, in the 1980s the United States began to experience a decline in acupuncture clinics. This is probably attributed to the fact that the United States no longer feels comfortable having individuals seek treatments in the privacy and comfort of their own homes. The lack of clinics and the lack of qualified, competent practitioners has meant that acupuncture is no longer viewed as a viable treatment for nausea and chronic pain in the United States. It would not be surprising, therefore, if the popularity of acupuncture in China would soon begin to decline as American professionals become disinterested in the treatment.
What About The Facts?
Currently, there are no research studies that report any significant statistical data on the effectiveness of acupuncture for nausea and chronic pain. However, there have been numerous case reports submitted to medical journals that report positive results from patients who have tried acupuncture for back pain, headaches, menstrual problems, and even for arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome. Most of these cases are documented on paper. There are also case reports that are written online in websites set up for people who claim to have had success with acupuncture for their chronic pain. These case reports can provide a useful guide to the effectiveness of acupuncture.
Medical Studies To Help Understand Acupuncture
There have been a number of studies that aimed to verify the claims of the acupuncture community. This has really helped to separate the facts from the claims, and also helps people make better decisions about what they are doing with their health and wellbeing. Studies can be conducted to test the patients physical and emotional responses to this input, and we can also test for other factors around the body to see if acupuncture achieves the results everyone is hoping for.
SDTM Data Collection
SDTM, or Study Data Tabulation Model, is the universal format that researchers generally use to gather the data collected in these trials. It is very important as it is one of the few formats that governing bodies choose to accept. The SDTM format standardizes the required format and size of the data sheets that are to be used in the clinical trial monitoring process. All required data sheets are available in standard sizes and formats such as Word documents, Excel, Power Point or PDF. This ensures that researchers have ready access to analysis results metadata and are able to perform interpretive tasks easily. Also, standardized data sheets eliminate the need for interpretation of the data by professionals and allow easier and faster data entry.
Why Is It Important?
There are three domains in the SDTM ADAM model and they are equally important to consider. These are the intervention domain which includes the financial benefits that derive from the intervention and the service quality domain which relates to the service delivery and the outcomes achieved at the end of the intervention period. The other domains are the quality domains which include the statistical quality measures, the observer-asking quality measures and the statistical power measures. All the domains have to be balanced in order to have an asymmetric distribution of the aggregated data sets across the intervention and service periods. This is a very important property of the SDTM and the core structure of the model.
