The Impact of Warm Needle Acupuncture Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine on Psychological Well-Being and Quality of Life in Osteoporotic Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: Osteoporosis is associated with psychological distress and diminished quality of life, yet conventional treatments primarily target bone metabolism. The effects of warm needle acupuncture on psychological well-being and quality of life in patients with osteoporosis remain underexplored. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 120 patients with osteoporosis (warm needle acupuncture group, n = 63; control group, n = 57). Groups were formed according to the treatment regimen received in routine clinical practice, without randomization. The control group received conventional anti-osteoporosis therapy (calcium and vitamin D supplementation, anti-osteoporosis medications as clinically indicated, and lifestyle guidance); the warm needle acupuncture group received the same conventional therapy plus warm needle acupuncture (three sessions per week for 8 weeks). Outcomes included the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and lumbar bone mineral density (BMD). Post-treatment scores differed significantly between groups in five of eight SF-36 domains (PF, RP, BP, SF, and MH; all P < 0.05, all remaining significant after false discovery rate correction), and improvements in change scores were significantly greater in the warm needle acupuncture group across all eight domains (all adjusted P < 0.05). In an exploratory multiple regression analysis, warm needle acupuncture was the only covariate independently associated with mental component summary improvement (B = 7.53, 95% CI: 5.73-9.33, P < 0.001). RESULTS: The warm needle acupuncture group showed significantly greater improvements in SDS, SAS, and VAS scores (all P < 0.001). BMD remained unchanged in both groups over the short 8-week observation period. Depression reduction was more strongly correlated with quality-of-life improvement (rs = -0.415, P < 0.001) than anxiety reduction (rs = -0.225, P = 0.014). CONCLUSION: In this retrospective, non-randomized cohort study, warm needle acupuncture combined with conventional therapy was associated with greater short-term improvements in psychological symptoms, pain, and multiple quality of life domains in patients with osteoporosis; these findings represent associations rather than confirmed causal effects. Depression improvement showed a stronger association with quality-of-life gains than anxiety improvement. Prospective trials are needed to confirm these associations.