Citation

Huang W, Johnson TM, Kutner NG, Halpin SN, Weiss P, Griffiths PC, Bliwise DL. J. Clin. Psychiatry 2018; 80(1): e12235.

Affiliation

Department of Neurology, Emory Sleep Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Physicians Postgraduate Press)

DOI

10.4088/JCP.18m12235

PMID

30549498

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate real, as compared with sham, acupuncture in improving persistent sleep disturbance in veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

METHODS: This sham-controlled randomized clinical trial at a US Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (2010-2015) included 60 veterans aged 24-55 years (mean of 40 years) with history of mTBI of at least 3 months and refractory sleep disturbance. Most of these participants (66.7%) carried a concurrent DSM-IV clinical diagnosis of PTSD. For the present study, they were randomized into 2 groups and stratified by PTSD status using the PTSD Checklist-Military Version. Each participant received up to 10 treatment sessions. The primary outcome measure was change in baseline-adjusted global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score following intervention. Secondary outcomes were wrist-actigraphy-assessed objective sleep measurements. Comorbid PTSD was analyzed as a covariate.

RESULTS: Mean (SD) preintervention global PSQI score was 14.3 (3.2). Those receiving real acupuncture had a global PSQI score improvement of 4.4 points (relative to 2.4 points in sham, P =.04) and actigraphically measured sleep efficiency (absolute) improvement of 2.7% (relative to a decrement of 5.3% in sham, P =.0016). Effective blinding for active treatment was maintained in the study. PTSD participants presented with more clinically significant sleep difficulties at baseline; acupuncture was effective for both those with and without PTSD.

CONCLUSIONS: Real acupuncture, compared with a sham needling procedure, resulted in a significant improvement in sleep measures for veterans with mTBI and disturbed sleep, even in the presence of PTSD. These results indicate that an alternative-medicine treatment modality like acupuncture can provide clinically significant relief for a particularly recalcitrant problem affecting large segments of the veteran population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01162317.

© Copyright 2018 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Language: en