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Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Depressed Patients Not Taking Antidepressant Medications

NCT01634022 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 64

Last updated 2012-07-06

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Acupuncture is a popular complementary/alternative therapy that has been in use for thousands of years for the treatment of various medical and psychiatric conditions, including Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). In this study, the investigators applied the investigators acupuncture-treatment-for-depression protocol, based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) principles for treating MDD, to depressed patients not taking any antidepressant medications (a protocol that the investigators previously piloted as a medication augmentation therapy for partial responders with MDD).

The investigators specifically investigated the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of this TCM-based protocol for such patients, as well as potential differences in outcomes between weekly vs. twice-weekly treatment. The investigators hypothesized that acupuncture monotherapy would be associated with a response rate of at least 50%, which the investigators defined as a decrease in depressive symptoms from the beginning to the end of the study of 50% or more, and that the response would be greater among patients who received acupuncture 2 times per week (vs. 1 time per week). The investigators also hypothesized that acupuncture would be associated with minimal side effects.

Conditions

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Acupuncture

5 specific body acupoints (HT-7 and LI-4 on the hands bilaterally, and ST-36, SP-6, and LR-3 on the legs bilaterally) with gentle manual tonification every 10 min. Two acupoints along the midline of the head, GV-20 and GV-24.5 (Yintang), were also used with a 2 Hz current applied from GV-20 (-) to GV24.5 (+).

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Massachusetts General Hospital

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Albert Yeung, MD, ScD · Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

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

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2005-05-31
Primary Completion
2011-11-30
Completion
2011-11-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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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 NCT01634022 on ClinicalTrials.gov