Acupuncture for Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Depression is commonly treated with anti-depressant medication and/or psychological interventions. Patients with depression are common users of complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, either as a replacement for, or adjunct to, their conventional treatments. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of acupuncture in major depressive disorder. Methods: A search of English (Medline, PsychINFO, Google Scholar, and CINAL), Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI) and Wanfang Database), and Korean databases was undertaken from 1980 to November 2018 for clinical trials using manual, electro, or laser acupuncture. Results: Twenty-nine studies including 2268 participants were eligible and included in the meta-analysis. Twenty-two trials were undertaken in China and seven outside of China. Acupuncture showed clinically significant reductions in the severity of depression compared to usual care (Hedges (g) = 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18 to 0.63), sham acupuncture (g = 0.55, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.79), and as an adjunct to anti-depressant medication (g = 0.84, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.07). A significant correlation between an increase in the number of acupuncture treatments delivered and reduction in the severity of depression (p = 0.015) was found. Limitations: The majority of the included trials were at a high risk of bias for performance blinding. The applicability of findings in Chinese populations to other populations is unclear, due to the use of a higher treatment frequency and number of treatments in China. The majority of trials did not report any post-trial follow-up and safety reporting was poor. Conclusions: Acupuncture may be a suitable adjunct to usual care and standard anti-depressant medication.

The Role of Research in Guiding Treatment for Women’s Health: A Qualitative Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncturists

“…Frequency and total number of treatments are an important part of the total ‘dose’ of acupuncture [ 9 , 50 ] both in research and in clinical practice. Given that both frequency and total number of treatments plays a role in acupuncture’s effectiveness for conditions such as depression [ 51 ], and the total number of treatments is a key factor in positive outcomes for acupuncture and IVF [ 13 , 52 ], failure to deliver enough treatment may mean that maximum therapeutic benefit is not achieved [ 53 ].…”

<p>Electroacupuncture Relieves LPS-Induced Depression-Like Behaviour in Rats Through IDO-Mediated Tryptophan-Degrading Pathway</p>

“…25 Several existing meta-analyses also support the safety and significant clinical efficacy of acupuncture in ameliorating depressive symptoms. [26][27][28] Although some studies have discussed the underlying mechanism of its anti-depressive effect, [29][30][31] the mechanism of action is still not completely understood. In this study, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was peripherally administered to establish a rat depression model to explore whether the antidepressant effect of acupuncture is related to the inhibition of the inflammatory response and regulation of the IDO-mediated tryptophan-degrading pathway.…”

Understanding Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapeutics: An Overview of the Basics and Clinical Applications

“…The reestablishment of a “yin” and “yang” balance might lead to recovery from illness [ 20 ]. In this field, acupuncture has shown beneficial results as the primary therapy for reducing the severity of depression [ 101 , 102 , 103 , 126 , 127 ]. Chan et al (2015) concluded that combined acupuncture and antidepressant treatment is more effective than antidepressants alone in the first six weeks of treatment.…”