Acupuncture may be clinically effective for veterans seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research published online on February 21. JAMA Psychiatry.
Dr. Michael Holyfield and his colleagues at Tibor Rubin Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, Calif., randomly assigned 93 veterans seeking treatment for PTSD to receive verm acupuncture or sham acupuncture (twice a week). (24 1-hour sessions).
The researchers found a large treatment effect for Verm (Cohen d, 1.17), a moderate effect for placebo (d, 0.67), and a moderate between-group effect favoring Verm (mean Δ, 7.1; t). Did.90= 2.87; d, 0.63) in an intention-to-treat analysis.
In analyzes where treatment was complete, the pattern of effects was similar (verum d, 1.53; sham d, 0.86; between-group mean Δ, 7.4; t69= 2.64; d, 0.63). For fear-enhanced startle during extinction (i.e., better fear extinction), there was a significant decrease in symptoms from pre- to post-treatment in the Verum group, but not in the sham group, with a significant correlation There was a relationship (r = 0.31). Attrition rates were low.
“These data will improve the relative effectiveness and synergy of acupuncture with current best practices, mechanisms of action, durability of treatment in broader populations, and, perhaps most importantly, the efficiency of treatment selection. “Further research is needed on early predictors of treatment response to improve treatment response,” the authors wrote. write.
For more information:
Michael Hollifield et al., Acupuncture for Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, JAMA Psychiatry (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.5651
Magazine information:
JAMA Psychiatry
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