UK researchers assessing economic data on twelve non-pharmacological interventions for osteoarthritis of the knee, have found acupuncture and TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) to be cost-effective. The authors looked at 88 randomised controlled trials covering 7500 patients. They based cost-effectiveness estimations on a threshold of £20-30 000 per quality-adjusted life year; this is the same threshold used by NICE when establishing whether a treatment is a cost-effective use of NHS resources.
The authors noted that while acupuncture is not yet recommended by NICE as a treatment for knee osteoarthritis, their calculations suggest some interventions which are recommended (insoles, braces and manual therapy) are unlikely to be cost-effective.
(Cost-effectiveness of adjunct non-pharmacological interventions for osteoarthritis of the knee. PLoS One, 7 March 2017.)