503 patients whose primary substance of abuse was alcohol participated in this randomized, single blind, placebo controlled trial. Patients were assigned to either specific acupuncture, nonspecific acupuncture, symptom based acupuncture or convention treatment alone.
Timeline follow-back(TLFB)Addiction severity index(ASI)Alcohol dependence scaleAlcohol use by BreathalyzerLikert scale itemsSF-36Beck depression inventory(BDI)Zung self-rating anxiety scale(SAS)Preferences about therapy(PAT)
Stimulation Method
MS
Induction Method
Electroacupuncture Instrument Model
Manufacturer
Frequency
Waveform
Strength
Induction Time
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40 min
Acupuncture_Needle
Needle_Manufacturer
Needle_Depth
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Description Patients randomized to specific acupuncture received acupuncture at 4 ear points specific for chemical dependency: Shen Men, Lung, Sympathetic, and Liver. Treatments were administered without manual stimulation and lasted approximately 40 minutes, with patients seated in comfortable chairs. Subjects received up to 3 cycles of 6 treatments each as their length of stay permitted. The study period lasted 3 weeks in an attempt to both maximize and accurately represent the length of treatment exposure in a clinical chemical dependency setting.
Clinical Trial Type
randomized, single blind, placebo controlled trial
Effector
This article will focus on results pertaining to alcohol use. Significant improvement was shown on nearly all measures. There were few differences associated with treatment assignment and there were no treatment differences on alcohol use measures, although 49% of subjects reported acupuncture reduced their desire for alcohol. The placebo and preference for treatment measures did not materially effect the results. Generally, acupuncture was not found to make a significant contribution over and above that achieved by conventional treatment alone in reduction of alcohol use.
A large randomized placebo controlled study of auricular acupuncture for alcohol dependence.
Abstract
We report clinical data on the efficacy of acupuncture for alcohol dependence. 503 patients whose primary substance of abuse was alcohol participated in this randomized, single blind, placebo controlled trial. Patients were assigned to either specific acupuncture, nonspecific acupuncture, symptom based acupuncture or convention treatment alone. Alcohol use was assessed, along with depression, anxiety, functional status, and preference for therapy. This article will focus on results pertaining to alcohol use. Significant improvement was shown on nearly all measures. There were few differences associated with treatment assignment and there were no treatment differences on alcohol use measures, although 49% of subjects reported acupuncture reduced their desire for alcohol. The placebo and preference for treatment measures did not materially effect the results. Generally, acupuncture was not found to make a significant contribution over and above that achieved by conventional treatment alone in reduction of alcohol use."
