In a study of more than 200 adults with depression and comorbid insomnia, change from baseline to week 8 on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was 3 points greater in the group receiving EA versus a group receiving sham acupuncture (SA) plus standard care, and 5 points greater vs a control group receiving standard care only. The improvements were sustained during a 24-week postintervention follow-up.
The EA group also showed significant improvement in depression, insomnia, self-rated anxiety, and total sleep time – all of which were not found in the SA or control groups.
“Based on the results of our trial, we recommend patients with depression and insomnia seek the treatment of EA as an alternative and complementary therapy for better results,” study investigator Shifen Xu, PhD, Shanghai (China) Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told this news organization.
The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.
Bidirectional relationship
“Sleep disturbance is the prominent symptom in patients with depression,” the investigators noted.
Depression and sleep issues have a bidirectional relationship, in that “poor sleep quality contributes to the development of depression, and having depression makes a person more likely to develop sleep issues,” they wrote.
Patients with co-occurring depression and sleep disorders are more difficult to treat and have a greater risk for relapse and recurrence of depression, they added.
Acupuncture may be an “effective drug-free approach to help treat mental illness and sleep disorders,” the researchers noted. A previous study suggested acupuncture may improve sleep efficacy and prolong total sleep in patients with primary insomnia.
“EA is the combination of traditional Chinese acupuncture with electric-impulse stimulation, and it can enhance the therapeutic effect of the acupoints throughout the needle retention time,” Dr. Xu said.
A previous pilot study of EA for depression-related insomnia showed significant improvements in sleep quality after EA treatment, but the sample size was small.
The current researchers, therefore, undertook the present study – with a larger sample size and comparison with SA and standard care. They divided 270 adults (mean age, 50.3 years; 71.9% women) at three tertiary hospitals in Shanghai into three groups, each consisting of 90 participants.
The EA plus standard care group and the SA plus standard care group received 30-minute treatments three times per week for 8 weeks. The control group received standard care only.
All participants had DSM-5–diagnosed depression; baseline PSQI scores greater than 7, with higher scores indicating worse sleep quality and a greater number or sleep disorders; and Hamilton Depression Rating Scales (HDRS-17) scores of 20-35, with higher scores indicating higher depression levels.
Patients with secondary depressive disorders caused by other conditions, medication, or psychotic disorders were excluded, as were patients with a history of alcohol abuse or drug dependence or those who had received acupuncture within the previous year.
Of the patients who completed the 8-week intervention, 83 were in the EA group, 81 in the SA group, and 83 in the control group. Almost all participants (91.5%) completed all outcome measurements by the end of the 24-week follow-up period (also known as week 32).