Acupuncture may be clinically effective for veterans seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a study published online February 21. JAMA Psychiatry.
Dr. Michael Holifield of the Tibor Rubin Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, California, and his colleagues randomly assigned 93 veterans seeking treatment for PTSD to receive either real or sham acupuncture (24 one-hour sessions, twice a week).
The researchers found a large treatment effect for verum (Cohen d, 1.17), a moderate effect for sham (d, 0.67), and a moderate between-group effect in favor of verum (mean Δ, 7.1; t90= 2.87; d, 0.63) was confirmed in the intention-to-treat analysis.
In analyses after completion of treatment, the pattern of effects was similar (verum d, 1.53; sham d, 0.86; between-group mean Δ, 7.4; t69For fear-potentiated startle during extinction (i.e., better fear extinction), there was a significant reduction in symptoms from pre- to post-treatment in the verum group, but not in the sham group, with a significant correlation (r = 0.31). Dropout rates were low.
“These data indicate that further research is needed into the relative efficacy and synergy of acupuncture versus current best practices, the mechanism of action, durability of treatment in broader populations, and perhaps most importantly, early predictors of treatment response to improve efficiency of treatment selection,” the authors wrote.
For more information:
Michael Holyfield et al. “Acupuncture for Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” JAMA Psychiatry (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.5651
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Quote: Acupuncture found to help ease PTSD symptoms in combat veterans (February 29, 2024) Retrieved June 3, 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-acupuncture-alleviate-ptsd-symptoms-combat.html
This document is subject to copyright. It may not be reproduced without written permission, except for fair dealing for the purposes of personal study or research. The content is provided for informational purposes only.
