[Objective]To investigate the effects of acupuncture on sports activities of athletes [Methods]A total of 1,804 athletes were targeted. The method used was a collective survey. Questionnaires were administered after obtaining consent from the participants; online questionnaires were also provided. The questionnaire evaluated profile (sex, age); sensation immediately after acupuncture treatment, duration of stimulus sensation, stimulus intensity, stimulus sensation, and therapeutic effect; timing of acupuncture treatment; and questions related to acupuncture as to whether the acupuncture caused any adverse effects on play (movement) or showed any positive effects. [Results]In total, 1,525 (84.5%) valid responses were obtained. The survey analyzed 841 subjects (55.1%) who underwent acupuncture. The most common response after acupuncture treatment was that the subjects felt lighter and were able to move more easily; 43.9% of subjects gave this response. In addition, 10.6% of respondents said that they continued to feel pain similar to the sensation during acupuncture treatment and 7.7% said they felt weak. The most common response at 59.8% was that the sensation felt during acupuncture disappeared quickly after treatment was ended, 58.6% of subjects said that the sensation felt after acupuncture was optimal, and 48.3% responded that the sensation from treatment remained and a positive effect was observed. The most common timing for receiving acupuncture for 21.8% of subjects was after practice or a match: [Discussion and Conclusion]Acupuncture for athletes should be performed according to the guidelines, taking into account the competition schedule and type of competition and the appropriate amount of acupuncture stimulation, thereby preventing problems during competition.

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[PURPOSE] To evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and moxibustion treatments in breech presentation, we report correction rates and adverse events for correcting breech presentation in our department. [PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS] Subjects were pregnant women who were diagnosed with breech presentation in our obstetrics and gynecology department and started acupuncture and moxibustion treatment between April 1, 2009 and October 31, 2018. The target patients were retrospectively investigated by medical records. The main items investigated were the status of the pregnant women at the time of acupuncture and moxibustion initiation (presence or absence of threatened preterm labor), treatment position (sitting or lateral position), correction rates and occurrence of adverse events. Successful correction was defined as the rate of head position after acupuncture and moxibustion treatments. Adverse events were defined as "unfavorable medical events occurring during or after treatment, regardless of causation." [RESULTS] There were 371 pregnant women in the study; among them 57 women were diagnosed with threatened preterm labor at the start of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, including 21 pregnant women who were in the hospital. The sitting position was used for treatment for 45.2% (168 cases) of subjects and lateral position was used for 54.7% (203 cases). The correction rates were 72.2% (268/371). In pregnant women with threatened preterm labor who were hospitalized at the time of acupuncture and moxibustion initiation, the correction rates were 28.6% (6/21 cases), which was significantly lower than that of outpatient pregnant women. There was no significant difference in the rate of correction by treatment position between sitting and lateral position. There were no adverse events of vagal reflexes when the left lateral position was treated. The frequency of adverse events per number of procedures was 1.1% (21/1916) and per number of cases was 5.7% (21/371 cases). There were two cases of rupture of membranes with no apparent causal relationship. [CONCLUSION] The safest position for treatment in pregnant women was considered to be the left lateral position. Most of the adverse events were minor or moderate, but there were two cases of rupture of membranes with no apparent causal relationship. When performing acupuncture and moxibustion for breech presentation, it is necessary to work closely with the patient's obstetrician.

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[Objective] In the past, we reported results focusing on the immediate effect of psychosocial factors that influence the effects of acupuncture on patients with chronic low back pain. In the present study, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the data before and after four weeks of acupuncture therapy. [Materials and Methods] Fifty-three patients with an initial diagnosis of chronic low back pain who visited the Acupuncture Department of the Center for Integrative Medicine, Tsukuba University of Technology between August and December 2019 and showed baseline lumbar pain intensity by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) > 30 mm, were subjects of this study. Psychosocial scales viz, Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), social factors (cohabitation family situation, final education, social participation status), Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ), and impression of acupuncture were recorded using a self-administered questionnaire at the first visit and at four weeks after the first acupuncture therapy. Based on VAS, RDQ, and anchor questions about low back pain before and four weeks after the acupuncture therapy, patients were classified into "effective group" and "non-effective group"; then, the logistic regression analysis was performed using this classification as a dependent variable. In addition, r repeated measures analysis of variance (rANOVA) was performed on the data before and after four weeks of acupuncture therapy. [Results and Discussion] The number of patients in the "effective group" and "non-effective group" were 24 and 29, respectively. Among items used as covariates in the logistic regression analysis, the PCS (OR: 0.924, P = 0.037) and age (OR: 0.418, P = 0.005) showed statistical significance. In the rANOVA, all the evaluated items showed statistically significant differences before and after four weeks; only VAS in motion showed a statistically significant difference (P = 0.046) regarding the presence or absence of an immediate effect. Therefore, it was suggested that it is important to focus on psychosocial factors from an early stage of therapy, and to make appropriate evaluations and judgments based on both physical and psychosocial aspects of patients to treat them effectively.

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[Objective] Photographers perform a variety of tasks, including taking photographs for extended periods of time, using personal computers to organize photographic data, and preparing and transporting their equipment. Although photographers may exhibit a variety of symptoms, there have been no reports on investigations of pain or disease in photographers. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey on the actual status of work-related pain in photographers. We, then, performed acupuncture and evaluated the effects in subjects for pain or stiffness in the neck and shoulders, which was the most common chief complaint in the questionnaire. [Subjects and Methods] The survey was sent to 138 professional photographers. The survey included seven items, such as symptoms experienced during work activities and the content of the work. Among the respondents who reported chief complaints of pain in the neck and shoulder regions, six (one male and five females) opted to receive acupuncture treatment. We used the visual analog scale (VAS) scores to determine the amount of shoulder stiffness and tenderness in the shoulders and neck, as well as induration, before and immediately after treatment. [Results] Responses were obtained from 60.1% subjects. The most common chief complaint involved the neck and shoulder region in 86% of subjects. In the analysis of sex differences, the most common chief complaint in females was in the neck and shoulder region, whereas the most common chief complaint in males was in the lower back region. In the assessment of effects of acupuncture, the VAS scores for shoulder stiffness decreased after acupuncture (p < 0.05) and tenderness and induration scores decreased after acupuncture (p < 0.05). [Discussion and Conclusion] Low muscle strength may be a contributing factor for a higher complaint of neck and shoulder pain and stiffness in females. A higher complaint of pain and stiffness in the lower back region in males may be attributable to a higher load on the lower back region because they tend to have poor posture owing to height differences with the object being photographed. These results suggest that acupuncture is useful for work-related pain in the neck and shoulder region, which is the most common chief complaint in photographers.

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The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), adopted by WHO in 2001, is an evolution of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH). It is a model that integrates the levels of 1) body function and structures, 2) activity, and 3) participation, and uses a holistic approach by focusing on the health of the entire body with an emphasis on the positive aspects of being able to do things. In May 2019, the WHO General Assembly adopted ICD-11, revised after 30 years, and for the first time introduced the classification of diseases used in traditional medicine. A symposium organized by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (MHLW) was held online on February 20, 2021, and is reported here.

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