Table 4.

Use of resources. Values are means (SD)

Resource	Acupuncture	Controls	Difference between groups*	95% CI	P value
No of visits to:
General practitioner	1.7 (2.5)	2.3 (3.6)	0.77	0.56 to 1.06	0.10
Specialist	0.22 (0.9)	0.14 (0.6)	1.13	0.34 to 3.73	0.8
Complementary therapist	2.0 (7.1)	2.3 (6.8)	0.56	0.18 to 1.72	0.3
No of days off sick	12.6 (18.9)	13.8 (16.2)	0.84	0.64 to 1.09	0.2

Visits to acupuncturists and physiotherapists are excluded.

^*Adjusted difference between groups. Results are expressed as an incident rate ratio—the proportion of events in the acupuncture group compared with controls. Values less than one indicate fewer events in the acupuncture group. For example, the value of 0.77 for visits to general practitioners means that acupuncture patients made 23% fewer visits.