Electroacupuncture and acupuncture in the treatment of anxiety - A double blinded randomized parallel clinical trial.

Autor: Amorim D; Instituto de Medicina Integrativa, Rua Filipe Simões nº19, 3000-186, Coimbra, Portugal; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: geral@medicinaintegrativa.pt., Brito I; Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra & UICISA:E, Avenida Bissaya Barreto Polo A, Apartado 7001, 3046-851, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: irmabrito@esenfc.pt., Caseiro A; LABINSAÚDE - Laboratório de Investigação em Ciências Aplicadas à Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, ESTeSC, Rua 5 de Outubro, 3046-854, Coimbra, Portugal; Unidade I&D Química-Física Molecular, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3004-535, Coimbra, Portugal; Politécnico de Coimbra, ESTESC, Ciências Biomédicas Laboratoriais, Rua 5 de Outubro, 3046-854, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: armandocaseiro@estescoimbra.pt., Figueiredo JP; Politécnico de Coimbra, ESTESC, Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Rua 5 de Outubro, 3046-854, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: jpfigueiredo1974@gmail.com., Pinto A; Instituto de Medicina Integrativa, Rua Filipe Simões nº19, 3000-186, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: andreferpinto@gmail.com., Macedo I; Instituto de Medicina Integrativa, Rua Filipe Simões nº19, 3000-186, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: inesespiga@gmail.com., Machado J; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal; CBSin - Center of BioSciences in Integrative Health, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: jmachado.icbas@gmail.com.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Complementary therapies in clinical practice [Complement Ther Clin Pract] 2022 Feb; Vol. 46, pp. 101541. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jan 30.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101541
Abstrakt: Background: The estimated number of people living with anxiety disorders worldwide is around 264 million and is estimated to have worsened with the recent pandemic of COVID-19. Acupuncture has shown to have excellent therapeutic effects in reducing anxiety.
Design: Double-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial with 56 participants (21-82 years) with anxiety diagnosed by 3 different anxiety scales (BAI, GAD-7 and OASIS). A 30-min acupuncture session was applied once a week for 10 weeks.
Aims: Evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture and electroacupuncture in the treatment of anxiety to verify if: (1) People with high anxiety report reduced scores after 5 and 10 sessions; (2) Salivary cortisol levels accompanied the reduced scores; (3) Electroacupuncture treatment is more effective than acupuncture; (4) the treatments is independent of anxiolytic medication.
Methods: Volunteers were randomized into 3 groups (control, acupuncture, and electroacupuncture). The results were analyzed by anxiety scales and salivary cortisol tests.
Results: The findings show an improvement in anxiety, assessed by BAI, GAD-7 and OASIS, after the 5th session of acupuncture (p < 0.05) and electroacupuncture (p < 0.05) and the 10th session for both techniques (p < 0.001). The salivary cortisol values measured in the morning followed this pattern (p < 0.05), although the reduction of the night cortisol values was not statistically significant. Electroacupuncture and acupuncture show similar efficacy. The positive effect after the treatments is independent of anxiolytic medication (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Acupuncture and electroacupuncture are effective in treating anxiety on their own or as adjuncts to pharmacological therapy.
Trial Registration Number: NºP445-08/2017 (Unidade de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde).
(Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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