Randomised Controlled Trial on the Use of Acupuncture in Adults with Chronic, Non-Responding Anxiety Symptoms

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Errington-Evans
Keyword(s):  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Waiting List ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Acupuncture Points ◽  
Behaviour Therapy ◽  
Cognitive Behaviour ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Randomised Controlled

Background A group of adults can be identified with chronic non-responding anxiety symptoms who have repeatedly accessed treatments through their GP, such as cognitive behaviour therapy, bibliotherapy and medication, but with no effect. These patients make heavy use of health service resources with no beneficial outcome. This study aims to test the effect of an acupuncture formula of three specific acupuncture points, suggested in a previous pilot study. Method 40 participants from a psychiatry waiting list were randomised into one of two groups: group 1 (n=25) received 10 weeks of acupuncture at PC6, HT7 and LR3, and group 2 was a waiting list control group. The waiting list group (n=15) then received acupuncture. Both groups were followed up for 10 weeks after treatment. The outcome measure was the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results 36 patients completed the study, with two dropouts in each group. State anxiety scores in the acupuncture group decreased from 57.7 (SD 13.1) to 38.8 (12.0); scores in the waiting list control group decreased from 61.5 (11.6) to 60.6 (11.7). The difference was highly significant (p<0.0001). Similar changes were seen for trait anxiety scores. The control group showed similar statistically significant improvements when they received acupuncture. The improvements were maintained after 10 weeks of follow-up in each group. Conclusions Acupuncture is a promising intervention for patients with chronic anxiety symptoms that have proven resistant to other forms of treatment.

scholarly journals Effects of training on quality of peer review: randomised controlled trial

BMJ ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 328 (7441) ◽  
pp. 673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Schroter ◽  
Nick Black ◽  
Stephen Evans ◽  
James Carpenter ◽  
Fiona Godlee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Group Score ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
Quality Instrument

AbstractObjective To determine the effects of training on the quality of peer review.Design Single blind randomised controlled trial with two intervention groups receiving different types of training plus a control group.Setting and participants Reviewers at a general medical journal.Interventions Attendance at a training workshop or reception of a self taught training package focusing on what editors want from reviewers and how to critically appraise randomised controlled trials.Main outcome measures Quality of reviews of three manuscripts sent to reviewers at four to six monthly intervals, evaluated using the validated review quality instrument; number of deliberate major errors identified; time taken to review the manuscripts; proportion recommending rejection of the manuscripts.Results Reviewers in the self taught group scored higher in review quality after training than did the control group (score 2.85 v 2.56; difference 0.29, 95% confidence interval 0.14 to 0.44; P = 0.001), but the difference was not of editorial significance and was not maintained in the long term. Both intervention groups identified significantly more major errors after training than did the control group (3.14 and 2.96 v 2.13; P < 0.001), and this remained significant after the reviewers' performance at baseline assessment was taken into account. The evidence for benefit of training was no longer apparent on further testing six months after the interventions. Training had no impact on the time taken to review the papers but was associated with an increased likelihood of recommending rejection (92% and 84% v 76%; P = 0.002).Conclusions Short training packages have only a slight impact on the quality of peer review. The value of longer interventions needs to be assessed.

scholarly journals Effects of two types of smartphone-based stress management programmes on depressive and anxiety symptoms among hospital nurses in Vietnam: a protocol for three-arm randomised controlled trial

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e025138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kotaro Imamura ◽  
Thuy Thi Thu Tran ◽  
Huong Thanh Nguyen ◽  
Kazuto Kuribayashi ◽  
Asuka Sakuraya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Management ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Hospital Nurses ◽  
Management Intervention ◽  
Stress Management Intervention ◽  
Randomised Controlled

IntroductionDue to an increasing demand for healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries in Asia, it is important to develop a strategy to manage work-related stress in healthcare settings, particularly among nurses in these countries. The purpose of this three-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) is to examine the effects of a newly developed smartphone-based multimodule stress management programme on reducing severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms as primary outcomes at 3-month and 7-month follow-ups among hospital nurses in Vietnam.Methods and analysisThe target study population will be registered nurses working in a large general hospital (which employs approximately about 2000 nurses) in Vietnam. They will be invited to participate in this study. Participants who fulfil the eligibility criteria will be randomly allocated to the free-choice, multimodule stress management (intervention group A, n=360), the internet cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT), that is, fixed-order stress management (intervention group B, n=360), or a treatment as usual control group (n=360). Two types (free-choice and fixed sequential order) of smartphone-based six-module stress management programmes will be developed. Participants in the intervention groups will be required to complete one of the programmes within 10 weeks after the baseline survey. The primary outcomes are depressive and anxiety symptoms, measured by using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) at 3-month and 7 month follow-ups.Ethics and disseminationThe study procedures have been approved by the Research Ethics Review Board of Graduate School of Medicine/Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo (no 11991) and the Ethical Review Board for Biomedical Research of Hanoi University of Public Health (no 346/2018/YTCC-HD3). If a significant effect of the intervention programmes will be found in the RCT, the programmes will be made available to all nurses in the hospital including the control group. If the positive effects are found in this RCT, the e-stress management programmes will be disseminated to all nurses in Vietnam.Trial registration numberUMIN000033139; Pre-results.

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