Randomized single-blind multicenter trial comparing the effects of standard and augmented acupuncture protocols on sleep quality and depressive symptoms in patients with depression
Wen X, Wu Q, Liu J, Xu Z, Fan L, Chen X, He Q, Ma R, Wu Y, Jiang S, Xu S, Fu W · Psychology, Health & Medicine · 2017 September 12
DOI 10.1080/13548506.2017.1363399
Objective
To investigate and compare the effects of standard and augmented acupuncture on depressive symptoms and sleep disturbances in patients with depression and clinical insomnia.
Conclusions
The augmented acupuncture protocol was more effective than the standard acupuncture protocol in treating depression and improving sleep quality in patients with depression.
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Insights
Adding sustained intradermal acupuncture to standard acupuncture produced greater and more persistent improvements in depression and sleep quality than standard treatment alone.
This randomized, single-blind, multicenter trial assigned adults with depression and clinically significant insomnia to either standard acupuncture or an augmented protocol that added two acupuncture points and intradermal needles for sustained stimulation. Participants received treatment twice weekly for six weeks, with sleep quality and depressive symptoms assessed before treatment, during treatment, at completion, and after treatment ended; treatment credibility and adverse events were also monitored.
The augmented acupuncture group showed greater improvement in both sleep quality and depressive symptoms than the standard acupuncture group at each post-treatment assessment. Depressive symptoms continued improving throughout treatment in the augmented group, whereas improvement in the standard group levelled off after the early treatment period; sleep quality improved in both groups but did not continue improving after treatment ended.
