J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2026 Jul;47:1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2026.03.003. Epub 2026 Mar 9.

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of adding dry needling (DN) to conventional physical therapy for chronic neck pain using a Markov model. Health outcomes were measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and treatment costs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated. Combination therapy showed a higher recovery rate than standard care (70% vs. 50%) and generated higher QALY estimates (7.72 vs. 8.34), with a small additional cost (ICER: 3.48 USD/QALY). Monte Carlo simulations and sensitivity analyses supported the overall cost-effectiveness signal across tested parameter variations, while indicating residual uncertainty in the model estimates. These findings suggest that DN may be a cost-effective adjunct to physical therapy in the management of chronic neck pain.

PMID:42264779 | DOI:10.1016/j.jbmt.2026.03.003