Adding stress-focused pharmacopuncture to integrative Korean medicine improved anxiety, depression, and perceived recovery after traffic accidents without serious safety concerns.
This randomized pilot trial enrolled hospital inpatients experiencing anxiety or depression after a traffic accident. Participants were assigned to receive either integrative Korean medicine alone or the same care supplemented with stress-focused pharmacopuncture. Researchers assessed emotional symptoms, anxiety, depression, pain, trauma-related distress, sleep problems, quality of life, perceived overall improvement, and adverse events from admission to discharge.
Patients receiving stress-focused pharmacopuncture alongside integrative Korean medicine showed greater reductions in overall anxiety and depression, as well as improved anxiety ratings and perceived recovery, than those receiving integrative Korean medicine alone. No serious adverse events were reported, while measures of pain, trauma-related distress, sleep, and quality of life did not show clearly superior improvements.
