# Acupuncture and Depression -- Pilot Study



## kel1059 (Feb 28, 2003)

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p000372.html Results and ConclusionsFollowing treatments specifically designed to address symptoms of depression, 64% of women experienced full remission according to DSM-IV criteria. Comparing the immediate effect of the three eight-week treatment conditions, patients receiving specific acupuncture treatments demonstrated significantly (p less than 0.05) greater reduction in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores (-11.7 plus/minus 7.3) than those receiving the nonspecific acupuncture treatments (-2.9 plus/minus 7.9), and showed marginally (p less than 0.12) more improvement than the wait-list controls (-6.1 less than 10.9). Moreover, when examining the effect sizes, the specific treatment had a very large effect size compared to nonspecific treatment (d equal 1.16) and a moderate to large effect size compared to wait-list (d equal 0.61).Thus, based on a small outpatient sample of women with major depression, it appeared that acupuncture provided significant symptom relief at rates comparable to standard treatments such as psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy. The effect sizes observed in this small sample were at least as large or larger than those seen in trials of antidepressant medication or psychotherapy, and they suggest that a larger clinical trial is warranted.Dr. Allen is associate professor of psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience at the University of Arizona. In addition to clinical trials for acupuncture in the treatment of depression, his research focuses on electrophysiological and psychophysiological measures of emotion and risk for emotional disorders.


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## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

I wonder how to go about getting into additional trials? Sounds promising.


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