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Combining Acupuncture and Acupressure for Dementia Elderly

NCT04305951 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 236

Last updated 2026-02-10

Study results available
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Summary

This is an assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. A total of 248 (anticipated) elderly people aged ≥65 years with a mild to moderate dementia will be recruited from local nursing and care homes. They will be randomly assigned to routine care, CAT, CAE, and CAT+CAE with n = 62 subjects in each group. Subjects assigned to CAT, CAE, and CAT+CAE will respectively receive 2 sessions of CAT, 3 sessions of CAE, and a combination of both per week for 12 weeks. The primary outcome is the baseline-to-endpoint change in score of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Secondary outcomes include various domains of MoCA, functional independence, psychological well-being, sleep quality, and level of pain. A generalized linear mixed-effect model will be used to compare outcomes over time among the four groups.

Conditions

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Comprehensive acupuncture therapy (CAT)

CAT will be conducted for 2 sessions per week for 12 consecutive weeks. The following 14 body acupoints with only manual stimulation will be used: HT7 (Shenmen), LI4 (Hegu), TH5 (Waiguan), ST36 (Zusanli), ST40 (Fenglong) and SP6 (Sanyinjiao) in two sides, and CV12 (Zhongwan) and CV4 (Guanyuan) in midline. Electrical stimulation will be conducted on the following frontal acupoints: GV20 (Baihui), EX-HN3 (Yintang), GB15 (Toulinqi), GB8 (Shuaigu), EX-HN5 (Taiyang), and ST8 (Touwei) on two sides, and left and right EX-HN1 (Sishencong). Disposable acupuncture needles (0.25 mm in diameter and 25-40 mm in length) will be inserted at a depth of 10-30 mm perpendicularly or obliquely into acupoints. Manual manipulation will be carried out for all acupoints to evoke needling sensation. Electrical stimulation is additionally delivered on the 6 pairs of the frontal acupoints. Each session of treatment will last 30 minutes.

PROCEDURE

Comfy Acupressure for the Elderly (CAE)

CAE intervention will be conducted for 3 times per week for 12 consecutive weeks. CAE consists of 12 steps which need about 15 minutes to complete and mainly concentrates on the acupoints on face, head, neck, and shoulder. The detailed CAE Operation Guide will be provided for the provider and the video demonstration is accessible at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAqNIZPKmnM.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • The University of Hong Kong

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Zhang-Jin Zhang, MMed, PhD · School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-10-05
Primary Completion
2024-08-27
Completion
2025-02-28

Countries

  • Hong Kong

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 NCT04305951 on ClinicalTrials.gov