Study on the effect of acupuncture on anxiety and depression

The University of Gothenburg and the Research and Development Center Fyrbodal in Sweden conducted a randomized controlled trial with the aim of evaluating and comparing the effectiveness of integrative treatment (IB), therapeutic acupuncture (TA) and conventional therapy in relieving anxiety and depression. The sample consisted of 120 adults aged 20 to 55 years with psychological distress. This was evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale at baseline, after four and after eight weeks of treatment.

There were no differences between the three groups at the start of the study, but after four and eight weeks the HAD score fell in both the IB and TA groups. The conventional treatment showed no significant improvement. The study thus proved that both IB and TA are suitable and more effective than conventional therapy in reducing symptoms such as anxiety and depression.