Combining electroacupuncture and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for psychiatric disorders in women victims of domestic violence: An assessor-blinded, randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Women victims of domestic violence often present with psychiatric disorders and may benefit from nonpharmacological interventions. Acupoint stimulation therapy may be an effective approach.

AIMS: To examine whether a combination of electroacupuncture (EA) and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) can alleviate depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and insomnia in women victims of domestic violence.

METHODS

An assessor-blinded randomised controlled trial was conducted in Hong Kong, China, with 110 Chinese women with major depressive disorder who had experienced domestic violence and were randomly assigned to care as usual (CAU) alone or combined with EA + TEAS (n = 55 per group) for 12 weeks, two clinic-based EA sessions and three home-based TEAS sessions per week. The primary outcome was baseline-to-endpoint change in the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Secondary outcomes included the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, 10-item Perceived Stress Scale, PTSD Check List-Civilian Version, Insomnia Severity Index and the 12-item Short Form Survey for health-related quality of life.

RESULTS

Of the 110 participants (n = 55 each group), 91.8% (101/110) completed the study. At 12 weeks, the EA + TEAS group showed a significantly greater reduction in BDI-II score than that of the CAU group (mean difference = -10.9; 95% confidence interval -16.5 to -5.4; t = -3.9; p < 0.001), exceeding the minimal clinically important difference (5 points). The superiority of EA + TEAS was also observed across secondary measures, including depression, PTSD, perceived stress, insomnia and quality of life. The EA + TEAS group had significantly higher rates of clinical response (49.1% vs. 18.2%, χ 2 = 11.770, p < 0.001) and remission (38.2% vs. 12.7%, χ 2 = 9.390, p = 0.002) at endpoint than those of the CAU group. All treatment-related adverse events were mild.

CONCLUSIONS

The addition of EA + TEAS produced substantially greater improvements in depression and other psychiatric symptoms. EA + TEAS may serve as an effective intervention for women victims of domestic violence.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered on www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05102253).