The purpose of this document is to develop a concept for action plans within the framework of SALUTE4CE project, specifically, for urban pilot project areas where urban environmental acupuncture is being applied and their respective Functional Urban Areas (FUAs). The action plan concept incorporates the methodology for selecting urban environmental acupuncture (UEA) sites and this includes the typology and selection of interventions created within the SALUTE4CE project. The transnational action plan concept is comprised of three main sections: general considerations, creating local action plans and plan implementation.

Bakgrund Smärta är en subjektiv upplevelse och innebär lidande i flera dimensioner för personen som är drabbad. Att lindra lidande ingår i sjuksköterskans huvuduppgifter. Smärta kan både uppstå och hämmas genom flera olika mekanismer i kroppen. Akupunktur är en icke farmakologisk behandlingsmetod som sjuksköterskan kan använda sig av för att lindra smärta hos patienten. Teoretisk anknytning i detta arbete är Katie Erikssons omvårdnadsteori som behandlar tre olika typer av lidande: sjukdomslidande, vårdlidande och livslidande. Syfte Syftet var att beskriva patienters upplevelser och erfarenheter av akupunktur som behandling av fysisk smärta. Metod En litteraturöversikt med 15 inkluderade studier, publicerade mellan år 2009 och 2019. Använda databaser är PubMed och CINAHL Complete. Insamlad data har bearbetats med integrerad analysmetod. Resultat Fem kategorier utmynnade: smärtlindring, psykisk hälsa, negativa erfarenheter, förtroende för vårdpersonalen samt autonomi. I flera studier framkom att patienter upplevde fysisk smärtlindring och eller ett ökat välbefinnande som resultat av akupunkturbehandlingen. Smärtlindring visade sig på patienters egna skattningar, minskad användning av analgetika samt på fysiska tecken. Förbättrad psykisk hälsa observerades genom minskad grad av depression och ångest samt ökad känsla av avslappning hos patienterna. De negativa erfarenheterna handlade om smärta vid instickande av nålar eller utebliven effekt. Det ökade förtroendet för vårdpersonal grundade sig i ett personcentrerat bemötande samt tillfredsställelse med behandlingen. Förbättrad autonomi sågs genom ökad tilltro till egen förmåga, ökad känsla av kontroll samt ökad fysisk aktivitet. Slutsats Akupunkturbehandling som smärtlindring kan minska patientens lidande på flera olika sätt. Flera patienter, dock inte alla, har upplevt och erfarit att behandlingen lindrar fysisk smärta. Oavsett smärtlindrande effekt eller inte, så upplevde de flesta att behandlingen ledde till ett ökat välbefinnande, vilket kan minska lidande. / Background Pain is a subjective experience that implies suffering in several dimensions for people who are affected. Relieving suffering is a part of the nurses' main tasks. Pain can both arise and be inhibited by several different mechanisms in the body. Acupuncture is a non-pharmacological treatment that the nurse can use to relieve that patients’ pain. The theoretical connection in this work is Katie Eriksson's nursing theory that explains three different types of suffering: suffering related to illness, suffering related to care and suffering related to life. Purpose The aim of this study was to describe patients' experiences of acupuncture as a treatment for physical pain. Method A literature review was conducted with 15 research articles, published between 2009 and 2019. The databases used are PubMed and CINAHL Complete. The collected data has been processed using an integrated analysis method. Results Five categories were identified: pain relief, psychological health, negative experiences, trust in healthcare personnel and autonomy. In several studies, it was found that patients experienced physical pain relief or increased well-being as a result of acupuncture treatment. Pain relief was shown on patients' own estimates, reduction in the use of analgesics and on physical signs. Improved mental health was shown on reduced levels of depression and anxiety as well as an increased sense of relaxation in patients. The negative experiences were caused by pain when inserting needles or absence of effect. The increased confidence in healthcare personnel was based on a person-centered way of treating the patient and satisfaction with the treatment. Improved autonomy was seen through increased confidence, increased sense of control and increased physical activity. Conclusion Acupuncture treatment as pain relief can reduce the patient's suffering in several ways. Several patients, though not all, have experienced that the treatment relieved physical pain. Regardless of the pain-relieving effect or not, most experienced that treatment led to increased well-being, which can reduce suffering.

Bakgrund: Enligt ”the Global burden of disease 2015” är migrän den tredje ledande orsaken tillfunktionshinder hos kvinnor och män under 50 år, i världen. I Sverige är prevalensen för migrän 14%. Orsaken till migrän är okänt. Kartlagt är att det finns neurofysiologiska, vaskulära och ärftliga komponenter. Migrän läkemedelbehandlas i allmänhet. De fysioterapeutiska åtgärderna är få och i regel inriktade på olika livsstilsfaktorer. Akupunktur skulle kunna vara ett behandlingsalternativ om det finns forskning som styrker dess effekt. Syfte: Genom att granska randomiserade kontrollerade studier som rör akupunkturbehandling vid migrän hos vuxna, skapa en bild av tillförlitligheten till interventionen och dess eventuella effekter på smärta, livskvalitet, migränanfallens frekvens och duration. Metod: Detta är en litteraturstudie och sökningen gjordes i databaserna Pubmed och Cochrane, populationen var vuxna med migrän, med eller utan aura. Kvalitetsgranskningen av studierna skedde med PEDro-skalan och den sammanvägda tillförlitligheten till resultaten graderades med GRADEstud. Resultat: Sökningen resulterade i sju artiklar, vilkas intervention var akupunktur enligt traditionellkinesisk medicin. Artiklarna var av måttlig till hög kvalitet, 4–9 poäng, och den sammanvägdatillförlitligheten till effekten av akupunkturbehandling graderades som måttligt hög för livskvalitet och antal migrändagar, och som låg för smärta och antal migränanfall. Sammanfattning: Vid jämförelser med tidigare forskning var samstämmigheten låg gällande tillförlitligheten. Fler studier av hög kvalitet behövs för att med säkerhet kunna uttala sig om akupunkturbehandlingens effekt vid migrän hos vuxna. / Background: According to “the Global Burden of Disease 2015”, migraines are the third leading cause of disability in the world, in women and men under the age of 50. In Sweden, the prevalence of migraines is 14%. What causes migraines is unclear, known is that there are neurophysiological, vascular, and hereditary components. Migraines are generally treated with medicine and the physiotherapeutic treatments usually focus on different lifestyle factors. Acupuncture could be a treatment option if there is research to prove its efficacy. Aim: By reviewing randomized controlled trials related to acupuncture in migraines in adults, get an understanding of the reliability of the intervention and its possible effects on pain, quality of life, frequency, and duration. Method: The search of literature to this study was made in the PubMed and Cochrane databases. The included population was adults with migraines, with or without aura. The quality review of the studies was done with the PEDro scale and the aggregated reliability to the results was graded with GRADEstud. Result: The search resulted in seven articles, in which the interventions were acupuncture according to traditional Chinese medicine. The articles were of moderate to high quality and the reliability to the effect of acupuncture was graded as moderately high for quality of life and number of migraines days and graded as low for pain and number of migraine attacks. Summary: When comparing with previous research, consistency was low in reliability. More high-quality studies are needed to reach a conclusion about the effect of acupuncture treatment on migraines in adults.

No description available.

Bakgrund Att leva med smärta leder till onödigt lidande och en av sjuksköterskans huvuduppgifter är att lindra detta lidande. Ofta är smärttillstånd komplexa och kan bero på flera orsaker. För att kunna uppnå god smärtlindring krävs det ibland därför olika typer och kombinationer av smärtlindring för att lindra smärta. Akupunktur är en omvårdnadsmetod som sjuksköterskan kan använda för att minska patientens smärta. Den teoretiska anknytningen till denna litteraturöversikt är Katie Erikssons omvårdnadsteori som beskriver tre typer av lidande: vårdlidande, sjukdomslidande och livslidande. Syfte Syftet var att belysa effekten av akupunktur som omvårdnadsmetod vid långvarig smärta med inriktning på patienters erfarenheter. Metod En litteraturöversikt med 16 inkluderade studier, publicerade mellan år 2010 och 2020. De använda databaserna är PubMed och CINAHL Complete. Insamlade data har bearbetats med integrerad analysmetod. Resultat Fyra områden framkom: smärtlindring, välbefinnande, patienters negativa erfarenheter och patienters förväntningar av akupunktur. I flera av artiklarna framkom det att akupunktur hade en smärtlindrande effekt. Den smärtlindrande effekten visades genom patienters smärtskattningar, fysiska tecken samt en minskad användning av analgetika. Patienterna upplevde även ett ökat välbefinnande genom en ökad känsla av autonomi, ökad livskvalitet och förbättrad psykisk hälsa. Patienternas upplevda negativa erfarenheter grundade sig i smärta eller rädsla vid nålinstick eller en utebliven effekt av behandlingen. Slutsats Akupunkturbehandling har en smärtlindrande effekt och kan minska patientens lidande på flera sätt. Majoriteten av deltagarna i de valda studierna upplevde att akupunkturbehandlingarna lindrade deras långvariga smärta. Oavsett smärtlindrande effekt så upplevde flera deltagare att akupunktur hade lett till ett ökat välbefinnande, vilket i sin tur kan minska lidande. / Background Living with pain leads to unnecessary suffering and one of the nurse's main tasks is to alleviate this suffering. Pain conditions are often complex and can be due to several causes. In order to achieve good pain relief, therefore, different types and combinations of pain relief are sometimes required to relieve pain. Acupuncture is a nursing method that the nurse can use to relieve the patient’s pain. The theoretical connection to this literature review is Katie Eriksson's nursing theory which describes three types of suffering: suffering related to care, suffering related to illness and suffering related to life. Aim The aim of this study was to describe the effect of acupuncture as a nursing method on chronic pain with focus on the patients' experiences. Method A literature review was conducted with 16 research articles, published between 2010 and 2020. The databases used were PubMed and CINAHL Complete. The collected data has been processed using an integrated analysis method. Results Four areas were found: pain relief, well-being, patients' negative experiences and patients' expectations of acupuncture. In several of the articles, it was found that acupuncture had a pain-relieving effect. The pain-relieving effect was shown through patients' pain measurement instruments, physical signs and a reduced use of analgesics. Patients also experienced increased well-being in the form of increased autonomy, increased quality of life and improved mental health. The patients' negative experiences were based on pain or fear of needle insertion or a lack of effect of the treatment. Conclusions Acupuncture treatment has a pain-relieving effect and can reduce patients suffering in several ways. The majority of the participants in the selected studies experienced that the acupuncture treatments relieved their long-term pain. Regardless of the pain-relieving effect several participants felt that acupuncture had led to increased well-being.

Dissertation completed in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / Background: Mechanical neck pain is a common complaint characterized by pain, limited range of motion and myofascial trigger points. The most common treatments for it are manual therapy and drug therapy. The former includes massage and exercise therapy and more specific to this study spinal manipulation and dry needling. The latter includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) and analgesics. Manipulation assists in increasing range of movement and reduces muscle spasm, while dry-needling inactivates trigger points and decreases local and referred pain. NSAIDs reduce pain and muscle spasm by inhibiting inflammatory pathways. Traumeel®S is a commonly used, safe and well tolerated homoeopathic anti-inflammatory with similar efficacy as NSAIDs but without the adverse gastrointestinal effects. It has also been shown to be highly effective in the treatment of myofascial pain. Methodology: This study was designed as a randomized comparative clinical trial. Fourty participants between ages 18-55 years of age were randomly allocated to two groups of twenty participants each. Group A received spinal manipulation and dry needling in trapezius trigger point two; while Group B received spinal manipulation and Traumeel®S solution injection in trapezius trigger point two. The study took place over a period of two weeks and involved four consultations. Subjective and objective readings were taken at every consultation. Subjective tools included the Numerical pain rating scale (NRS) and Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) neck disability index. Objective tools included the pressure algometer and cervical range of motion (CROM-II) goniometer. SPSS version 20.0 was used in the data analysis. A p-value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The results showed that no statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of subjective and objective measurements. However, there were statistically significant improvements seen in both groups equally in terms of subjective and objective measurements i.e. both groups showed improvement. Conclusion: The results of this study concluded that the effectiveness of spinal manipulation and dry needling versus spinal manipulation and Traumeel®S Injectable solution in the treatment of mechanical neck pain associated with trapezius myofascial trigger points is equivalent to each other. No statistically or clinically significant changes were noticed between the groups.

BACKGROUND: Practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies are an important and growing presence in health care systems worldwide. A central question is whether evidence-based behavior change interventions routinely employed in conventional health care could also be integrated into CAM practice to address public health priorities. Essential for successful integration are intervention approaches deemed acceptable and consistent with practice patterns and treatment approaches of different types of CAM practitioners - that is, they have context validity. Intervention development to ensure context validity was integral to Project CAM Reach (CAMR), a project examining the public health potential of tobacco cessation training for chiropractors, acupuncturists and massage therapists (CAM practitioners). This paper describes formative research conducted to achieve this goal. METHODS: Intervention development, undertaken in three CAM disciplines (chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy), consisted of six iterative steps: 1) exploratory key informant interviews; 2) local CAM practitioner community survey; 3) existing tobacco cessation curriculum demonstration with CAM practitioners; 4) adapting/tailoring of existing curriculum; 5) external review of adaptations; 6) delivery of tailored curriculum to CAM practitioners with follow-up curriculum evaluation. RESULTS: CAM practitioners identified barriers and facilitators to addressing tobacco use with patients/clients and saw the relevance and acceptability of the intervention content. The intervention development process was attentive to their real world intervention concerns. Extensive intervention tailoring to the context of each CAM discipline was found unnecessary. Participants and advisors from all CAM disciplines embraced training content, deeming it to have broad relevance and application across the three CAM disciplines. All findings informed the final intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The participatory and iterative formative research process yielded an intervention with context validity in real-world CAM practices as it: 1) is patient/client-centered, emphasizing the practitioner's role in a healing relationship; 2) is responsive to the different contexts of CAM practitioners' work and patient/client relationships; 3) integrates relevant best practices from US Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guidelines on treating tobacco dependence; and 4) is suited to the range of healing philosophies, scopes of practice and practice patterns found in participating CAM practitioners. The full CAMR study to evaluate the impact of the CAMR intervention on CAM practitioners' clinical behavior is underway.

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar o serviço realizado pelo Ambulatório de Acupuntura, da Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento do Estado de São Paulo, na cidade de São Paulo, disponibilizado aos seus funcionários como parte do programa Qualivida, realizado no período de 2001 a 2008. Busca contribuir para uma reflexão sobre este tipo de modelo de atenção e assistência à saúde visando sua viabilidade em organizações laborais complexas de médio e grande porte. Método utilizado na pesquisa: Trata-se de um estudo de caso realizado no Ambulatório de Acupuntura da Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento do Estado de São Paulo (SAA), no período de 2001 a 2008. População do estudo composta por funcionários da SAA, familiares de funcionários da SAA e comunidade. Instrumentos para coleta dos dados: prontuários dos pacientes e questionário para avaliar condições de saúde. Análise: EPIDATA, versão 3.0, e o banco de dados constituído e transportado para o STATA, versão 11.0, para a análise. Após a verificação de consistência dos dados, foram realizadas análises descritivas com os resultados sendo apresentados na forma de tabelas e gráficos. Para identificação de possíveis associações entre as variáveis categóricas foi usado o teste de Chi-quadrado ou Exato de Fisher, quando apropriado. Resultados e discussão: A permanência ao tratamento pelos pacientes, no período realizado da pesquisa, foi de 100 por cento, demonstrando alto grau de adesão às sessões programadas pela equipe médica. Podemos considerar alguns aspectos relacionados aos resultados positivos encontrados: importância de sua realização no próprio local de trabalho considerando comodidade, acesso e facilidade de locomoção dos pacientes na intervenção terapêutica, além de ter se revelado um método eficaz e de baixo custo em sua implantação e manutenção para a instituição. Concluímos com esta pesquisa que existe viabilidade do uso da acupuntura como tratamento terapêutico na assistência de saúde de atenção em nível primário, complementares aos equipamentos de saúde de atenção básica convencionais, através de ambulatórios de acupuntura, voltadas à saúde do trabalhador como política de saúde pública / This research aims to analyze the work realized by the Acupuncture Ambulatory of São Paulo Agriculture and Supply Secretary in the São Paulo city, concerning to their works as part of the Qualivida Program realized between 2001 and 2010. It contributes to think about one kind of pattern to provide viable health assistance in large or medium complex work organizations. Methods: This is a case study mode in the acupuncture ambulatory of São Paulo Agriculture and Supply Secretary (SAA) between 2001 and 2008. The works of SAA, SAA familys works and part of the community composed the population of the study. The instruments for data collection were: patients profile and a questionnaire to determine the health conditions. Analysis: EPIDATA, version 3.0 and data basis was written in the STATA, version 11.0 to analyze. After data verification, it was mode descriptive analysis as the results being explained graphically. In order to identify possible association between the data items, the Chi-square test or the Fisher exact was used when appropriate. Results and Discussion: The constancy of treatment by the patients in the research period was 100 per cent showing a high grade of sections adhesion programmed by the medical team. We can consider some positive aspects related to the found results: importance of acupuncture sections being performed in the work self place, considering commodity, access and locomotion facility of the patients concerning the therapeutically intervention. By the way it was revealed as an efficient and low cost method to introduce and establish for the institution. We conclude that there is viability in the use of acupuncture as a therapeuthical treatment in the first level of medical assistance in addition to the basical medical health equipments as usual, providing that the acupuncture ambulatory concerning the works health can be viewed as a public health policy

A síndrome de ardência bucal (SAB) é classicamente descrita como uma doença orofacial crônica, caracterizada pela presença do sintoma de ardência ou queimação na mucosa oral clinicamente normal. A SAB possui significativa predileção pelo gênero feminino e alta prevalência em indivíduos acima dos 40 anos de idade. Sua etiologia, embora desconhecida, é considerada multifatorial e, frequentemente, associada a fatores locais, sistêmicos, psicogênicos e neuropáticos. Diversos tratamentos são propostos para a SAB, porém considerados empíricos e ineficazes. Os objetivos do presente estudo foram investigar os fatores associados ao diagnóstico da SAB e a eficácia da acupuntura como modalidade terapêutica. Os dados de 95 pacientes diagnosticados com SAB no ambulatório da Disciplina de Estomatologia Clínica da FOUSP no período de Janeiro de 1993 a Fevereiro de 2005 foram avaliados retrospectivamente. Os critérios de inclusão e exclusão considerados no diagnóstico da SAB foram estabelecidos pela queixa de ardência bucal e ausência de sinais clínicos visíveis na mucosa oral. A relação entre os fatores prognósticos (classificação, localização, intensidade, natureza e escore EVA) e os fatores associados (xerostomia, hipossalivação, pH salivar, candidose bucal, prótese dentária removível, comorbidades, medicação sistêmica, ansiedade, depressão, estresse, cancerofobia, idade, gênero, etnia, e hábitos), foi analisada estatisticamente através do teste exato de Fisher, Regressão de Poisson univariada e multivariada e o teste de Mann-Whitney. Para a análise da resposta terapêutica da acupuntura foi utilizado o teste de Wilcoxon para verificar diferenças entre a sintomatologia avaliada através de EVA (0-100), intensidade (suave-moderada-grave) e frequência (intermitente-contínua), antes e depois do tratamento acupuntura. O nível de significância de 5% (p<0,05) foi considerado. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram significativa predileção da SAB pelo gênero feminino, presente em 87 (91,58%) mulheres, especialmente de etnia Caucasiana. A média de idade foi de 59,76 anos (32-86 anos), sendo mais prevalente na faixa etária entre 50 e 70 anos. Os Tipos 1 e 2 de SAB foram os mais prevalentes, e a língua foi o local mais afetado, referido por 79 (83,16%) pacientes. A média de duração dos sintomas foi de 3 anos (2 meses a 20 anos). O escore médio mensurado por EVA foi de 80,63 (30-100), sendo mais prevalentes os sintomas de intensidade grave e contínua. Os fatores mais frequentes foram: uso de medicações sistêmicas, constatado em 75 (78,95%) pacientes, comorbidades, em 73 (76,84%), e xerostomia, em 33 (34,74%) indivíduos. Dentre as inúmeras análises realizadas, não foi evidenciada qualquer correlação estatisticamente significativa (p>0,05) entre os fatores estudados e a SAB. Quanto à resposta terapêutica da acupuntura, evidências quanto à sua eficácia no tratamento da SAB foram constatadas pela diminuição estatisticamente significante no escore EVA (p<0,01), assim como verificado para a intensidade, que variou de grave a ausente (p<0,01), e para a frequência dos sintomas, variando de contínua a ausente ou intermitente (p<0,01), no período estudado. De acordo com os resultados obtidos no presente estudo, concluímos que fatores frequentemente associados à SAB não evidenciaram correlações significativas com esta síndrome em nossa casuística e que a acupuntura se mostrou eficaz na melhora da sintomatologia de ardência bucal referida pelos pacientes. / Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is classically described as a chronic orofacial disease, characterized by burning mouth symptom in oral mucosa clinically normal. The BMS has a significant predilection for female gender and high prevalence in adults over 40 years old. Its etiology, although unknown, is considered multifactorial and often associated to local, systemic, psychogenic and neuropathic factors. Several treatments are proposed for BMS, although considered empirical and ineffective. The aims of this study were to investigate clinical factors associated with diagnosis of BMS and to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture as a therapeutic modality. Data from 95 patients diagnosed with BMS the outpatient clinic of the Department of Stomatology, FOUSP, between January, 1993 and February, 2005 were assessed retrospectively. The inclusion and exclusion criteria considered in the diagnosis of BMS were established by complaints of burning mouth and no clinical signs visible in the oral mucosa. The correlation between prognostic factors (classification, location, intensity, nature and VAS score) and the associated factors (xerostomia, hyposalivation, salivary pH, oral candidiasis, removable dental prosthesis, comorbidities, systemic medication, anxiety, depression, stress, cancerophobia, age, gender, ethnicity, and habits), was statistically evaluated by means of Fisher exact test, Poisson regression univariate and multivariate analysis and the Mann-Whitney test. To investigate the therapeutic response of acupuncture, the Wilcoxon test was used to identify differences between symptoms assessed by VAS (0-100), intensity (mild-moderate-severe) and frequency (continuous-intermittent) before and after acupuncture treatment. The significance level of 5% (p<0.05) was considered. The results showed a significant preference of BMS in gender female, present in 87 (91.58%) women, especially Caucasian ethnicity. The mean age was 59.76 years (32-86 years), most prevalent between the ages of 50 and 70 years. Types 1 and 2 of BMS were the most prevalent, and the tongue was the most affected site, reported by 79 (83.16%) patients. The mean duration of symptoms was 3 years, ranging from 2 months to 20 years. Regarding symptom intensity, the mean score measured by VAS was 80.63 (30-100), and the most frequent symptoms were severe and continuous. Among of considered factors, the most frequent were: use of systemic medications found in 75 (78.95%) patients, comorbidities conditions, in 73 (76.84%), and xerostomia, in 33 (34.74%) subjects. Among the numerous analysis carried out, no statistically significant correlation was evidenced (p>0.05) between all the considered factors and BMS. Regarding the therapeutic response of acupuncture, considerable evidences concerning its efficacy in the treatment of BMS were observed by a statistically significant decrease in VAS score (p<0.01), as observed for the intensity, which ranged from severe to absent (p<0.01), and the frequency of symptoms, ranging from continuous to intermittent or absent (p<0.01) during the study period. According to the results obtained in this study, we conclude that factors often associated with BMS did not show statistically significant correlations with this syndrome in our series, and that acupuncture was effective in reducing the symptoms intensity of burning mouth referred by patients.

Introdução: As práticas integrativas e complementares em saúde (PIC), entre as quais se inclui a acupuntura, vêm ganhando espaço nas últimas décadas no serviço público no Brasil. Em 2006 foi aprovada a lei que regulamenta a Política Nacional de Práticas Integrativas e Complementares (PNPIC), proporcionando maior impulso para essas práticas no SUS. Alinhada com essa política, a Unidade de Medicinas Tradicionais (UMT), no município de São Paulo, vem oferecendo desde 2005 atendimento com as PIC de maneira ampla e contínua. Entre os pacientes atendidos na UMT, há uma parcela de pacientes HIV positivos, cujo perfil é desconhecido. Objetivo: Descrever o perfil dos pacientes atendidos na Unidade de Medicinas Tradicionais e, em particular, dos pacientes HIV positivos, caracterizando: origem do encaminhamento, queixas, expectativas em relação ao tratamento e aspectos que mais influenciam negativamente a qualidade de vida desses pacientes. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo transversal descritivo, analisando-se todos os prontuários dos pacientes atendidos na UMT entre 2006 e 2009. Os pacientes HIV positivos foram identificados e contatados para entrevista, para que informações detalhadas fossem obtidas. Foram usados um questionário de qualidade de vida específico para pacientes HIV positivos (HIV/AIDS-Targeted Quality of Life Instrument HAT-QoL) e um questionário desenvolvido pelo pesquisador. Resultados Foram incluídos 1960 pacientes, dos quais 81 por cento eram mulheres; 68,3 por cento acima dos 50 anos; e 74,1 por cento com demanda espontânea. As queixas principais foram dor (66 por cento ) e queixas mentais (26 por cento ), com duração mediana de 24 meses. Foram identificados 57 pacientes soropositivos, dos quais 71,9 por cento eram do sexo masculino. As queixas principais também foram dor (22 por cento ) e queixas mentais (21,3 por cento ), sendo 72,1 por cento com demanda espontânea. Entre as expectativas, estavam: alívio das queixas, melhora da qualidade de vida, bem-estar e melhora da imunidade. Na avaliação das dimensões de qualidade de vida, as mais afetadas foram função sexual e preocupação em revelar a doença. Conclusões: A população atendida na UMT é predominantemente feminina, acima dos 50 anos, com queixas álgicas, de longa duração e com demanda espontânea. Os pacientes HIV positivos são predominantemente masculinos. A principal queixa foi dor. Em sua maioria, procuraram atendimento em acupuntura de maneira espontânea. Esperavam, com o tratamento, o alívio das queixas, bem-estar, melhorar qualidade de vida e imunidade / Introduction: Integrative and Complementary Health Practices, among them acupuncture, have been gaining space in the last decades in the Brazilian Heath Pub lic System (SUS). In 2006, a law regulating the Integrative and Complementary Health Practices National Policy was passed, which boosted the implementation of such practices in the Health Public System. Aligned to that policy, the Tradition al Medicine Unit (UMT) in the city of São Paulo has been broadly and continually providing treatment based on Integrative and Complementary Health Practices since 2005. Among the patients treated at that unit, there are HIV-positive patients, whose profile is unknown so far. Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the profile of the patients treated at the UMT, particularly those who are HIV positive. The origin of the patients seen in the unit, their complaints, expectations regarding the treatment, and the aspects that might negatively influence their quality of life were described. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study by analyzing all medical charts from the patients treated at the Traditional Medicine Unit, from 2006 to 2009. The HIV-positive patients were identified and interviewed to obtain detailed information. The HIV/AIDS-Targeted Quality of Life Instrument HAT-QoL and a questionnaire prepared by the researcher were used. Results: The study included 1,960 patients, of which 81 per cent were women, 68.3 per cent were over 50 years of age, and 74.1 per cent arrived at the unit spontaneously. The main complaints were pain (66 per cent ) and mental disorders (26 per cent ), with average duration of 24 months. Fifty-seven HIV-positive patients were identified, of which 71.9 per cent were men; the main complaints were also pain (22 per cent ) and mental disorders (21.3 per cent ); 72.1 per cent arrived at the unit spontaneously. Among their expectations were: relief from complaints, improvement of their quality of life, well-being, and immunity. When the quality-of-life dimensions were evaluated, the sexual function and the concern about revealing the disease were the most affected ones. Conclusions: The population treated by the UMT is composed mostly by women, patients over 50 years of age, with long-term pain-related complaints, originating from spontaneous demand. The HIV-positive patients are mostly men whose prevailing complaint is pain. They have mostly sought acupuncture treatment spontaneously. They were expecting relief from complaints, and well-being, quality of life, and immunity improvement