MedTrace Logo

Use of Acupuncture In Children With Autistic Spectrum Disorder

NCT00346736 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE3 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 80

Last updated 2008-09-03

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Autism is a behaviorally defined, lifelong disorder of the brain, affecting at least 1-2 per 1000 children. There is an increasing trend of autism worldwide. However, to date, there is still no cure for this devastating childhood disease. Autism is characterized by deficit in language, social communication and repetitive behavior. It is estimated that the annual cost of care for autism is $13 billion in USA alone. Children with autism usually have associated behavioral problems such as aggressiveness, stereotypes, hyperactivity, emotional lability, and short attention span.

The National Institute of Child Health \& Human Development and National Institute of Deafness \& Communication Disorders have jointly founded the Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism. One of the long-term NIH goals is to develop or refine interim treatment strategy and to develop effective biological, behavioral or alternative treatment strategy for autism. There is a dire need for early identification and treatment of children with autism.

Acupuncture has been practised in China for 2 millennia. The legal status of acupuncture as a treatment technique was approved by Food \& Drugs Administration in USA (1997). The therapeutic effect of acupuncture is based on stimulation at specific acupoints resulting in both local and distant effect via improving signal or modulation of electromagnetic energy. There had lack of studies of acupuncture in autism. We hope that we can study the efficacy of acupuncture in autism using clinical measurement. We hope to identify the role of acupuncture as an adjunctive treatment for autism.

Conditions

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Acupuncture (Procedure)

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • The University of Hong Kong

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Wong Virginia · The University of Hong Kong

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
3 Years
Max Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2005-05-31
Primary Completion
2006-06-30
Completion
2007-03-31

Countries

  • Hong Kong

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00346736 on ClinicalTrials.gov