A Randomized Controlled Study Of Electroacupuncture And Simple Acupuncture In The Treatment Of First-episode Mild To Moderate Depression

BACKGROUND:With the progress of the times and the development of the society,depression has currently attracted people's attention and focus due to its high rate of incidence,disease burden,recurrence,suicide-committing,comorbidity and other characteristics.Depression is a serious threat to both physical and mental health condition,furthermore,it imposes a huge burden on individuals,families and society.At present,long-term oral antidepressants are the most commonly accepted treatment for depression patients in clinical practice,but these drugs have different degrees of side effects,such as slow onset,long cycle of taking and obvious withdrawal reaction,resulting in poor patient compliance.There are still some patients who are either unable to tolerate the drug,or unwilling to take the drug because the effect is not so obvious.In addition,due to a variety of reasons,such as the stigma caused by mental illness prejudice,or the lack of corresponding understanding of depression,there is a low rate of clinical consultation and treatment among patients with depression at their early stage of the disease.According to the survey results,Electro-acupuncture therapy for depression was mature in the 1980s.Professor Luo He Chun and his team scientifically proved the efficacy of electro-acupuncture at Baihui and Yintang acupoints in the treatment of depression through decades of clinical and experimental research.Referring to the literature,it was found that antidepressant drugs were mostly selected as the control group in the experimental design scheme,and electro-acupuncture therapy was rarely compared with conventional acupuncture therapy in the control study,and most studies failed to record the follow-up after treatment,which made it difficult to grasp its long-term efficacy.This study designed a randomized controlled trial of electroacupuncture and simple acupuncture in the treatment of first-episodepatients with mild to moderate depression,compared and analyzed the difference of therapeutic effects between the two groups,so as to provide clinical ideas for acupuncture treatment of first-episode patients with mild to moderate depression.OBJECTIVE:We hopes that through this research it will be clarified the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of first-episode patients with mild to moderate depression,with acupoint prescription of DU20(Baihui),EX-HN1(Sishencong),EX-HN5(Taiyang on both sides),EX-HN3(Yintang)and LI4(Hegu on both sides).Furthermore,a comparative analysis is made to demonstrate the curative effect difference between electroacupuncture and simple acupuncture.Meanwhile,it is also included an observation of long-term curative effect to provide a certain basis for acupuncture treatment of depression with expectations for clinical promotion.METHODS:Fifty cases of patients with depression who were admitted to the Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion,of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences from December 2015 to December 2017 were enrolled according to a randomized controlled trial:25 patients in the treatment group(electroacupuncture group-the curative group)and 25 patients in the control group(simple acupuncture group).Among them,2 cases in the acupuncture group are drop-outs and 3 cases in the control group.The number of cases eventually included in the statistics was 45 cases.In both groups,Baihui,Sishencong,Taiyang(both sides),Yintang and Hegu(both sides)were selected.In the electroacupuncture group,the electroacupuncture instrument(sdz-v type)was connected with on the needle hilts of the four acupoints of Baihui,Yintang and Taiyang(both sides),and the continuous wave was selected with the frequency of 1 Hz?2Hz,and the amplitude was based on the patients' sense of needle tip beating and comfort.The control group did not receive an electroacupuncture.The treatment time was 30 minutes each time,once every other day,three times a week,6 weeks(18 times)for one course of treatment.The HAMD scale,the HAMA scale,the SDS scale,and the SAS scale were assessed once before and at the 2nd,4th and 6th weekends after treatment,and HAMD scale was assessed once after 6 months of follow-up.After the course of treatment,the effective rate of the two treatments was obtained by deducting the score of the HAMD scale before and after treatment.The scores of the respective scales and the corresponding factor scores were statistically analyzed,and the results were observed.RESULTS:1.After a 6-week course of 18 times of treatment,the total effective rate of the treatment group was 91.3%(23/21),and the total effective rate of the control group was 68.1%(22/15).The difference was not statistically significant by rank-sum test(Z=-1.409,P=0.159>0.05).Electroacupuncture and simple acupuncture are equivalent to the treatment of first-onset mild to moderate depression.2.Intra-group comparison of HAMD,SDS,HAMD,SAS scales showed statistically significant differences before and after treatment(P<0.05);3.There was statistically significant difference between HAMD rating groups(P=0.032<0.05);4.There was no statistically significant difference in SDS,HAMA and SAS scale rating groups(P>0.05);5.At the second week after treatment,HAMD scores of the two groups were significantly different from those before treatment(P<0.05).6.Electrical group performes better in HAMD Scale of the sleep factors(Z=-2.561,P=0.011<0.05);There was no statistically significant difference in the scores of other factors between the groups(P>0.05).7.After 6 months of follow-up,the HAMD scale score of the two groups was still statistically significant compared with that before treatment(P=0.00<0.05).CONCLUSION:1.Both electroacupuncture and simple acupuncture have significant improvement on patients with first mild to moderate depression;2.In improving the score of HMAD scale,the electroacupuncture group was superior to the acupuncture group3.Has the obvious improvement effect to the depression accompanies the anxiety symptom.4.The two groups took effect rapidly in the second week after treatment.5.For patients with sleep disorders,electroacupuncture has more advantages than simple acupuncture therapy6.After 6 months,the therapeutic effect can be maintained.