A large randomized placebo controlled study of auricular acupuncture for alcohol dependence
Item
Title
A large randomized placebo controlled study of auricular acupuncture for alcohol dependence
Author(s)
Date
2002
volume
22(2)
pages
71-77
Research Type
RCT
Keywords
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
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has health condition studied
Substance-Related Disorders
plan
>1/WK
has study population number
503
has duration
3 Weeks