The use of goal attainment scaling in the acupuncture of children with intellectual disability

Objective: The therapeutic effect of acupuncture is often evaluated based on the experience and judgment of acupuncturists and the subjective feelings of patients. Thus, we investigated the suitability of goal attainment scaling (GAS), an objective outcome measurements, to evaluate the responsiveness of children with intellectual disability to acupuncture therapy. Methods: This is an assessor-blinded, single-group cohort study that included 17 children with intellectual disabilities. The therapeutic effect of acupuncture was assessed by the T scores of GAS at four time points during the 3-month treatment. The responsiveness of GAS to acupuncture therapy was measured using the standardized response mean (SRM). Results: Compared with control, the 4-, 8-, and 12-week scores improved significantly after treatment (P < 0.01, P ≤ 0.001, P ≤ 0.001), with significant differences between each month (P < 0.01, P ≤ 0.001, P ≤ 0.001). Furthermore, all periods assessed GAS (to measure the therapeutic effect of acupuncture) showed marked responsiveness (SRMs >0.8). Conclusion: GAS is responsive in evaluating individual changes in the acupuncture treatment of children with intellectual disabilities. It is a feasible tool to match both the needs of children with intellectual disabilities and the clinical characteristics of acupuncture.