| Purposes: This research is to evaluate the prevalence of dysthymia among Hong Kong Adults through a sampling survey. To verify acupuncture safety and the clinical effects of the acupuncture intervention, using the DU20 (Bai Hui), employing stratified, single-blinded clinical observations. Methods: Conducted in two phases, to begin with, using the Revised Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (RHRSD)—self report inventory, data of 520 Hong Kong adults age ranging from 16-65 were collected. The prevalence of dysthymia was then evaluated. From the interviewees of the prevalence survey, 175 volunteers were recruited and acupuncture treatment course given. 148 cases had completely finished the course as scheduled, i. e. 27 cases have been eliminated or lost naturally. According to the total scores of the RHRSD of all the 175 subjects, they were stratified into three clinical condition levels of "Normal" , "Dysthymic Disorder (DD) " , and "Major Depression Episode (MDE) " . Results of pre- and post-treatment, and three-month follow up have been compared and evaluated. Results: The two target phases were well-implemented. The prevalence of adult dysthymia in Hong Kong is 29.0 + 3.9%. The pre- and post-treatment , and three-month follow up comparison for the case of the dysthymia, had shown statistically significant differences; and for the case of major depression episode only the pre- and post-treatment comparison shown statistically significant difference. Conclusions: The prevalence of adult dysthymia in Hong Kong is 29.0 ± 3.9%. There are no statistically significant differences among the demographic factors of gender, age, occupation, income and education hence these might not be risk factors for dysthymia. Acupuncture on Bai Hui has been verified as a safe and effective clinical intervention to treat adult dysthymia as well as to major depression episode. |
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