The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that acupuncture treatment hastens recovery time from inflammatory symptoms of the breast during breastfeeding. 205 mothers with 210 cases of breast inflammation (commonly called "mastitis") during breastfeeding were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. There were two groups where acupuncture was used and one without acupuncture. The mothers symptoms were recorded at the onset of health care contact and daily until recovery. All care interventions given, including antibiotic therapy, were monitored. Women who participated were asked to leave a breast milk sample to test for bacterial growth. It was found that acupuncture did not shorten the women's contacts with health care services but did improve their symptoms on contact days 3 and 4. It was seen in this study that only 15 % of women were prescribed antibiotics which was a very low rate of prescription compared to USA, Canada, Australia, Turkey and New Zealand where up to 100% are given antibiotics. Seven women (3.3% of those in the study) developed a breast boil and this is a similar number to a study in Australia where many more were treated by antibiotics. This could mean that many women throughout the world are given antibiotics when in fact they may recover without them. This is an important finding in relation to the fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Sex
FEMALE
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Proportion of women with lowest possible scores for symptom severity on days 3,4 and 5 in the three groups
Comparison of the three groups for mean scores for symptom severity on days 3,4 and 5
Comparison of the three treatment groups for number of contact days with health care services until recovery
Proportion of mothers in the three groups with less favourable outcomes (6 or more contact days to recovery)
Comparison of the three groups for proportions of women prescribed antibiotics
Comparison of the three groups for proportions of mothers who developed breast abscess
Proportions of women in the three groups who experienced residual symptoms within 6 weeks which required renewed health care contact
Comparison of the three groups for care interventions used